A King of Scorpions
by dogpoker
Summary: A foretelling lingers on a shelf in the Hall of Prophecy two decades after the death of Voldemort, twelve names lurking in the mystery of it all, sworn to one another by the stars.
1. A Fire in the Woods

One

I cannot explain to you the mass of events I've gone through in my lifetime. There are too many with too great of detail and if I ever finished the telling of even one of these, you would have a hard time finding the significance. They all add up, though. I realized these events were forming into a mountain when I was merely sixteen, in the prime of my youth which was also during the great decline of my school.

My family name has lost its power and with that, I've been harassed my whole life. With this, I've gained appreciation for the mysteries in life, the opposite spectrum of the world in which my father could not fathom. With this, I can stare at the young Lily Potter and wonder if she views me the same way my father viewed hers.

She's sitting across the courtyard with the Potter's adopted daughter, Avery who is in my year. She looks like a Potter, sounds like a Potter, even casts her spells like a Potter. She takes care of Lily, keeps her away from any young man looking to take away her innocence. Avery has been through things in life that I cannot imagine, which, I believe, is why Harry Potter took her in and under his wing.

I'm looking at the two of them, wondering if it's true that Avery has finally lost her virginity. Rumor had it that she rebelled over the summer, traveling across Europe for the experience but unraveling the beast of which she was inside.

"The new robes are in." Devereaux Parkinson tells me. I look up at him. "For Quidditch."

"Did you see them?" I asked.

"Yeah, they look good. Tell your father thanks." I nodded and looked back at the Potter girls. I catch Avery's stare quickly. She looks down at a book in her lap, and then shuts it hastily. She gets up, grabs Lily's hand and walks into the school. I sigh and stand up, crossing the courtyard after them.

The "decline" is explained on three points; sex, drinking, and dark magic. The school slowly fell apart after its reopening. Mr. Potter paid the bills for its repairs and is compensated bit by bit every year. I'm certain that his kids promised each other not to tell him about the decline. Kids, overwhelmed with the glory of their school being a battlefield for the war, threw parties every weekend when it reopened which began the rise of alcoholism on campus. I wasn't sure how they got alcohol in the school to begin with, maybe they had brewed it themselves, but administration didn't seem to care because they saw it as just school spirit. When the alcohol met the student body, the student body met each other. Everyone slept with each other, and the girls who managed to keep their virginity until year seven were chased more than the girls who had lost it in year six. Some were even harassed and in the worst cases, raped. This is when the dark magic became a heavy secret among the students. Girls practiced it to defend themselves, and the most horrible of young men used it when they wanted a piece of ass.

In my time, dark magic is used for fun. Bets are placed against one another and if there is a rivalry, it won't be settled through Quidditch but through duels, during parties.

We no longer hold parties in the woods; they are broken up too easily. The abandoned house in Hogsmeade is the perfect setting most of the time. Other times, if everyone is lucky, the head boys and girls will hold the party in their dorms. If one can find it, they share the room of requirement with the rest of us.

I keep my eye on Avery as the student body passes from class to class. She's making her way down to Potions, as am I. But first, she's walking Lily to Defense Against the Dark Arts. They talk for a short moment and I pass them by, hearing only a bit of their conversation.

"Are you going out tonight?" Lily asks Avery.

"I don't think so, no. There's talk of a duel; it'll be dangerous." I look down and keep walking. It's only a couple minutes later when I can feel her presence beside me.

"You couldn't have made it any more obvious." She speaks clearly and assertively. I don't look at her.

"What's obvious about walking past you? You're the one talking to me, aren't you?"

"You don't have to have an attitude, Scorpius."

"I'm not. How was your holiday?" She scoffs.

"It was good."

"Yeah, I heard it was." I look at her finally and she's clenching her jaw. "Six months we were together and then you run off to Spain to find a Latin lover." I whisper. "That's really classy, Ave."

"I wasn't ready."

"No, but you were ready when you were on X, weren't you?" She says nothing to me and I look ahead. For six months we had been the best kept secret at Hogwarts. "You did well, Avery. Real fuckin' well."

We enter potions and she sits at the head of the class, leaving me to my seat in the back. I watch Avery from across the room and I can only see her profile. She looks like she wants to cry but she looks too angry to do so. Why should she cry, I ask myself. What _reason_ did she have to cry? I was the one who was hurt.

* * *

I'm watching Dacia Parkinson, Devereaux's twin sister, walking towards me that night. Dacia's got the body of a goddess and could send any man into shiver and aches. She's tipsy and still in her school uniform. I'm sitting next to Dev and he doesn't mind that Dacia sleeps with most of his friends. He could care less about his sister. Pansy Parkinson, being a whore as well, couldn't find a good man to marry after Hogwarts and so got knocked up with twins. Dev hates his mother more than anything as she relies on him heavily at home to punish Dacia for her wrong doings. It is my understand that, when the chance comes, he will leave his rich mother and comfortable home to get as far away from his life as possible.

"Are you taking me home tonight, Mr. Malfoy?" She whispers into my ear, leaving me chilled. She puts her cool hand on the back of my neck and then begins to suckle on my lobe. I laugh.

"I'm not allowed to have people spend the night." I tell her.

"Oh, fuck it. Who's gonna find out?"

"I can take you back to your dorm, not my own, Dacia."

"Fucking Christ, Dacia. Get off the poor man." Dev says and pushes her away from me. She glares at her brother and I grin as they bicker. Dev is only protective over me because he knows my devotion towards Avery, though he doesn't know we dated. That and the fact that I am his oldest playmate, untainted by his sister.

"Go take it up your fucking arse, Dev. Jealous 'cause I'm getting some and you're not? Or is it 'cause you want him for yourself?" Dev stands up and grabs his sister by the throat. She shows no fear.

"I will drown you in that fucking lake if you keep talking to me like that."

Tonight, the seventh years are braving it in the woods around a fire. Tonight, Avery has lied and she makes her way towards the fire with her brother Albus, which most of us call Al. She has lied to Lily to make her stay in. In reality, I know she wants to see the duel, as do the rest of us. They're the drug none of us can pass up, filled with adrenaline to see someone get hurt with spells we've never seen. Who is the most creative wizard on campus? Who is the most evil? Who is most like the devil?

It starts like this; we party and the viewers get as drunk as they possibly can beforehand. The duelers come with their crowd of people hours into the party and they disappear into the woods by their selves to first try and discuss their matters. If they come, we all they're pussies. If we see streaks of light in the darkness, we all gather around them to watch.

This night is a particularly good match up, one all of us have been waiting for years. Harper Zabini has finally made an effort to put a stop to Samuel Finnigan's Irish-mouth, one which he runs about everything including Harper's sister. All of us know that Samuel took Brandolyn Zabini's virginity after drugging her over the summer. All of us also know that he delved in dark magic when he was only in year three.

I hear a scream unlike anything I've ever heard before, terrible and spine-tingling. I stand up instantly and run towards the woods with everyone else, wand tight in my hand.

I had never minded Sam Finnigan before that day, but Dev had told me about Brandolyn at lunch. Having dated her briefly, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt the girl. She was sweet, too sweet.

Red struck the sky, cracking like thunder. It sends a tree toppling down near Sam. He sends the tree back towards Harper. All of us back away from the scene; I had never seen a fight like this before. I looked over and saw Avery's lips parted and her eyes wide with astonishment. She was holding onto Al for safety.

Harper sets the tree on fire and sends it back to Sam. Sam lets it fall this time and for a moment that felt like forever, everything was silent with the exception of the fire crackling. There was no movement. It could have been assumed that Sam was now dead, the tree toppling him. Everyone's hearts raced, hoping that wasn't the case. If it was, the woods were sure to be cut down and the school would have a curfew, every door with a timed and unbreakable lock on it.

I looked down as the ground shook beneath us all. There was a roar in the air and I looked up to see Sam standing in the flames, not on fire whatsoever. Harper waited for his next move, but I had a notion that his next move had been sent and was on it's way. I heard a gasp and looked over to see Avery turned. I looked back and saw lightning forking the sky horizontally. I looked towards Harper and saw it coming from the opposite direction.

It caught Harper in a matter of seconds and every girl was screaming. It picked him and held up above the crowns of the trees. And in a matter of seconds it let him go and he crashed to the ground. He lay still for a second and then the spell took effect; his body went into a spasm, his nose spewing blood.

"Oh my God," Avery exclaimed and she ran for him. She wasn't close to Harper in any way shape or form, but she had never seen anything so grim. She knelt beside him and her hands hovered above him. "Someone fucking help him!" She screamed.

"No!" Sam Finnigan bellowed. He pointed his wand at Avery and casted her against a tree. She cried out in pain. I stepped forward and pointed my wand at him. He grabbed at his throat and fell to his knees. Just like he had lit up Harper Zabini, I sent him into the sky with his tree and then out into the lake, taking out at least trees on the way. With no source of light left, no trace of Sam Finnigan, panic grew thick in the air.

I looked at Harper who was staring at me in disbelief. His fit had stopped.

"Where is Harper?" Someone yelled.

"Fuck." I whispered. Everyone bolted in different direction. The fire in the distance was put out.

"Get to your fucking dorm, mate." I felt Dev's tight grip on my shoulder. "Take Avery with you." I looked back and saw her standing up, trembling, her eyes still wide. I walked towards her and took her by the hand. We ran back to the school as fast as we could and back to our head boy and girl dorm in the north tower of the school. I locked the door and she stared at me, fear growing more obvious in her eyes.

"Did you kill him?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"I don't know."

"What if someone finds out you did it, Scorpius?"

"Then I'm fucked, Avery." I told her bluntly. Her eyes glossed over.

"You shouldn't have stepped in. Everyone will know about us."

"Why the FUCK would that matter at this point, Avery?" I yelled at her. I stomped to my room, taking off my tie and unbuttoning my shirt. She followed me.

"Al will kill you, Scorpius. Sam is his best friend and I'm-" I turned around and looked her dead in the eye.

"You are not his sister, Avery. His dad took you in because he felt sorry for you." I told her. "I've been in love with you since the day I saw you when you were introduced to the school; I was fourteen fucking years old. You were sorted into Slytherin because you're a goddamn cunning and manipulative girl. You're not in Gryffindor like Al and James who have the hearts of a lion, and you're not in Ravenclaw like Lily because you're not smart enough. You're in here with me because of what's in your blood and I know what's in your blood. I wasn't just gonna watch you fucking go into a convulsion because of Al Potter. Does that make sense to you?" She said nothing, and a tear rolled down her face.

"If he's dead, so be it, send me to Azkaban, but just know I was protecting you." I turned and walked away into my room. I took my shirt off. I heard her inhaled at the sight of my back.

"What happened to you?" She asked. "Did your dad…"

There was a gash running from my left shoulder to my right hip, sure to leave a massive scar.

"It doesn't matter. Go to bed, Avery."


	2. St Mungo's

Two

Sam Finnigan lay out on the edge of the woods for ten days after having swum and passed out. He had slices up and down his body due to having flown through a mass amount of branches. Pneumonia had taken a hold of him right away and he had been strong enough to hold on to his life. Al had found him and carried him back to the school.

No one had spoken a word of the duel, of me stepping in. But everyone had spoken of my reasoning behind stepping in. They wondered if I had done it solely because Avery was the head girl or because she was just watching the duel. Many, however, speculated that we really had been seeing each other during out sixth year. It should have been obvious to them when we were seeing each other; we were always studying in the library together, we turned down every offer for a date that was presented, and for the simple fact that she sat next to me during every lunch.

Avery had explained to me that we needed to be kept a secret because of her family. I agreed, fearing my father at the time. By the end of the relationship, anger and bitterness had swollen in my veins because she insisted on keeping us a secret. I was over my father's reign and I was ready at any moment to kill him, to rid the world of him.

I sat in my dorm after hearing the news of Sam Finnigan. Rumor had it that he wasn't saying anything about what had happened to him. I knew he would come back with a vengeance.

Avery stepped in the dorm and stopped at the door. She blinked and looked around the room. I looked at her.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She asked in awe. I looked around as well. The plates we had been given to feed ourselves were in the air spinning, whirring in such a haunting song. I looked back at her.

"The sound gets rid of my headaches." I summoned the plates back to their place in the cabinet near our small kitchen area. She stared at me.

"How often do you do that?" She asked.

"Every day. I come up here for lunch and listen to them."

"You don't take your medication anymore?"

"It makes the pain in my back worse."

"I wish you would have told me."

"About what?"

"Your back."

"I hadn't had a chance to tell you. We had been back to school for one day and you hadn't visited the dorm yet."

"I was meeting with the Ministry the night everybody arrived."

"For what?"

"Department of Mysteries."

"Did you get the job in Prophecies then?"

"I didn't want the job in the first place," She said sounding exhausted. She walked towards the bookshelf and took out her Runes book. "They haven't had an Elf in a century or so and they heard the rumor that I have some Elf in my blood."

"So are you taking the job or not?"

"Until something better comes along, yes." She sat down and opened up the book.

"And what does Harry think of it?"

"He thinks it's good." I stared at her as she began reading. I slid off the couch, onto my knees and slid over to her. I took the book from her hands and set it down next to the chair she sat in.

"If you ever put a name to the man who took your virginity, I will kill him." She said nothing. I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

She put her hands to my face and I sighed, closing my eyes. The pain in my back and in my head faded. I could hear her light and gentle voice singing to me in my mind.

_Scorpius…_ She spoke through her fingertips and I was blinded even with my eyes closed.

I laced my fingers with hers, my chest feeling as if it were going to cave in. She sat up and I opened my eyes, and then put a hand around the back of her neck. I pulled her in and kissed her hungrily. There was nothing comparable to kissing an Elvin woman. They purified your blood and crystallized any dream you thought could be heaven.

* * *

Avery Romanox's grandparents had been the last known full Elves. They lived in the mountains, very isolated from the rest of the world. Out of wedlock, Avery's mother had her and passed on the Elvin gene to her. Avery's mother had then made the choice to live a life of mortality with Avery's father. Avery's father left her when she was still very young and her mother had died a few years after she had chose mortality, her age catching up with her.

Her grandparents took her in until she was old enough to be sent off to Beauxbatons. She spent three years there until she started displaying forms of power the girls at the academy were turned off by. Harry Potter had been hearing of her story for years and when the opportunity came, he ordered the Ministry to find Miss Romanox and bring her the UK. He questioned her for hours, made her perform every spell she knew. He then observed her as she did things any witch could not. She made seedlings grow into trees within a day's time, healed a man with a broken neck just by touching him, and foresaw anything in the future. He also caught view of her darker tendencies, what it was to set a car on fire by just looking at it, to flood any room she pleased, and to taint any land with death.

He ignored the dark side of Avery and asked her to join his family. He changed her last name to Potter-Romanox and gave her a room of her own, new clothes, even a new broom. Avery had the life every child dreamed of.

I saw her walk up to the front of the Great Hall in my fourth year at Hogwarts. I was immediately stricken by her matured beauty. She was tall, thin, with a mane of long, dark hair. And she had been sorted into Slytherin.

* * *

We went down to dinner together, the meal we were required to go to since we were one pair out of four head boy and girl pairs. They had increased the number just because of the decline and put a pair at each point in the school. We were the only two living together who had been in the same house.

Everyone watched as Sam Finnigan walked into the Great Hall with a fire burning in his eyes. He looked up at the table of Administration where I sat. Avery looked at me as I stared right back at Sam.

"Don't go out tonight, Scorpius." She said to me.

"I wasn't planning on it." I turned my attention to her.

We were ordered to wait until every last student had left the great hall and of course Sam Finnigan was the last one to exit. I stood up tall and brave, Avery at my side. We walked down the aisles between the tables and I took a step ahead of her when we reached the doors. I knew he would be waiting for the two of us somewhere, I just didn't know if his choice would be wise. Had he stayed in the foyer to wait for us he would have been caught right away. He wasn't there, though. We ascended the stairs and went towards our tower. We passed one of the oldest and darkest abandoned classrooms and for some reason, my gut told me he was waiting there. I put my hand on Avery's lower back and pushed her forward. I heard the click of the door handle and turned, taking my wand out.

Sam Finnigan stepped out of the classroom, pointing his wand. Green sparks shot out his wand, flying at Avery's head. I reached back and pushed her to the wall.

"You love her, Malfoy?"

"Does it matter?" I asked him. He laughed.

"For you, maybe. What happens when I tell Al and James?"

"Go ahead-"

"Fuck off, Sam." Avery said.

"I do like those firecrackers, don't you Malfoy? But they're no good once they've been fucked." I clenched my jaw and began to walk towards him. Avery grabbed me by the arm. One would think that she wouldn't be able to hold a man of my size back, but it went back to her origins. "Looks like the pussy's out of the bag." Avery raised her wand for only a second before Sam's clothes were shredded and his body was cut up even more.

We watched as he touched his wounds and stared at the blood on his hands. For the second time, I watched him fall to his knees, but this time he planted his face into the floor. I grabbed Avery's hand and walked as fast as I could back to our dorm. I locked the door and looked at the cabinet full of plates. My head felt as if it were going to explode.

The cabinet doors opened and the plates flew out with an uncontrollable force, all hitting the wall next to me. My eyes grew hazy at the sound and a lump formed in my throat. I felt my knees grow weak, and my back hit the corner of the room, next to the door. Avery turned around.

"_Scorpius!_" I felt her hands on my face before everything went black, even sound.

* * *

My father stands over me in the white room. Avery is there, sitting in the chair. And Astoria is out in the hall, on her phone.

"My son…" Draco says to me. He puts his cold hand against my head. I shudder. I looked around the room and discover by the certificates on the wall that I'm at St. Mungo's.

"Why am I here?" I ask Avery.

"The nurses at the school couldn't revive you." Draco says to me. I look up at him. "Which leads me to my own question; what were you doing to cause you to have such an episode?" I glanced at Avery. "Miss. Potter-Romanox says she found you in the dorm with all the plates smashed on the ground." I blinked and shook my head as if I didn't know.

"My head hurt, that's all I remember." Astoria comes in the room and Draco catches a look at her, unsure of what to make of my response.

"I see." He hesitates as my mother stands next to him.

"We've got news for you." Astoria says.

"Maybe next time, dear." She glares at Draco.

"What is it?" I ask, eyeing my mother. She's so pretty, yet so oblivious to all the hell my father has caused.

"I can leave." Avery says and stands up. I look at her.

"No stay." I beg.

"Your mother is with child." I look back at Draco, shock erupting inside of me. "Another son."

"How far along?" I ask.

"Three months." She replies. "We were planning on taking you out to dinner sometime this week to tell you, but this happened…" She looks down and I can tell that she's troubled by the thought of having another one of my father's sons. "You'll stay here overnight. We'll take you out to breakfast and then back to school. That sound good to you, sweetheart?" Her eyes meet mine. I grab her wrist.

"Don't leave me here tonight, Mum." She squeezes my hand.

"We're not allowed to bring you home. Avery has said she'll stay with you until you fall asleep."

"You'll be alright, son." Draco says.

"We'll be here in the morning after they run some tests, Scorpius. We have to leave, though; it's incredibly late." My mother wants to stay with me but Draco can't stand the thought of being sober any longer. Astoria leans in and kisses my forehead. My father does the same and they leave shortly after.

"He's not so bad when he's abstemious." I look at Avery.

"I'm surprised he hasn't tried to kill my mother yet."

"Maybe he's surprised she hasn't tried to kill him." I study Avery. She's in her Quidditch sweatpants and a black zip-up coat I recognize as mine. Her hair is back in a ponytail and I can see the point of her ear, something she hates about herself.

"You are incredibly beautiful." I tell her. Her somber expression doesn't change; it hardly ever does. Her eyes are as hard as a rock, her lips pursed almost all the time. She steps toward me with a sigh, her hands in her pockets.

"Sam Finnigan left the nurse's wing twenty minutes after he got there. He claimed to have run into a tree while he was playing Quidditch. He's got it out for you now."

"You know better than to tell me that."

"Why, because you're not scared of anyone? Or the fact that you like causing trouble?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of not being scared of him but now that you mention it…" She rolls her eyes.

"Don't start anything with him, Scorpius."

"I'm not going to. But if he brings it upon himself then don't hold me back." She shook her head a little and then opened her lips to say something then paused, questioning if I really wanted to hear it or not.

"Your father was telling me about the Prophecies; he says there's a new one."

"There are thousands of them, why would it matter to you what he has to say?"

"It involves our school. An uprising."

"And who's the new dark lord."

"That's the important part. There's not one, but twelve." I narrowed my eyes. "One for every month of the year, your father says."

"A Zodiac Alliance. I've heard of that before."

"I think Sam Finnigan might have something to do with it and if you don't watch your back-"

"Don't start that with me, Avery. I've got you for a friend, don't I? Would you honestly sit back if Sam Finnigan and eleven others all had their wands to my throat?" She said nothing and I knew I was right.

"I should leave. They haven't exempted me from classes tomorrow." She says.

"I'm sorry about the plates." I tell her and she's caught off-guard.

"Don't…worry about it. I can replace them. I'll see you tomorrow." She turns to leave but I grab her by the wrist, as tightly as I can. She looks back. I pull her in and kiss her gently. She lingers for a second before putting her hand on the back of my neck. She kisses me back and then puts her other hand on my chest. I pull her closer to me by the small of her back. She pulls away quickly.

"We're in a hospital." She reminds us both. I smirk. "I'll see you tomorrow." I let her leave this time.


	3. The Virgin Prince

Three

I sit across from my parents the next morning and both are dressed in black as if they were going to a funeral. My mother's hair is in a low bun and she's got the reddest of lipstick on. I can understand how she keeps my father attracted after all this time, but I can't figure out how she manages to put up with his alcoholism after all this time.

"You didn't really say much about the pregnancy." My mother says to me.

"I think it's great." I lie to her. I really think it's a horrible idea and that it's only going to give her more of a reason to stay with Draco in the long run. "Did you plan it?" My parents look at each other quickly and I can tell that they haven't. It makes me wonder if he's raped her or if she's cheated on him.

"Yes. I've still got plenty of mothering time and you're leaving soon anyway. The house would get incredibly boring."

"Also, I think it will be good for you to have a brother." Draco says. I look at him, trying to tell him how much of an idiot I think he is.

"I won't know him." I tell my ignorant father. "I'll have my own life by the time he's able to talk."

"With Avery?" My mother changes the subject. "She seems like such a nice girl."

"It's possible." I tell her.

"She's a Potter." Draco tells us.

"Not really."

"She lives with Harry Potter, she's a Potter." I straighten up in my chair and clear my throat, trying to make my irritation known to my father.

"She is an Elf."

"So she's immortal and she'll die as soon as you marry her."

"Not if I do it soon. If I had met her two-hundred years from now, she'd die then, sure. Otherwise…" I say, staring at him blankly. "She's got the rest of her life to live."

"She's gorgeous." Astoria tells me. "Have you been seeing her for a long time now?"

"He never brought her to the house." My father retorts.

"She was in Spain for the summer. So, yes, father, I have been seeing her for a long time now." Draco says nothing and looks down bitterly.

"Will you bring her over for break?" My mother asks. I nod.

"What were you telling her about the prophecies?" Draco looks back up and cocks a brow.

"There will be twelve young men and women in Hogwarts that will succeed in taking over the world of witchcraft."

"Unless…" I say.

"There is no 'unless.' No one will be able to stop them, not even Voldemort himself could stop him."

"Well we all know that; Harry Potter stopped _him_." My father tilted his head.

"Well not even _Harry Potter_ could stop them."

"Could an Elf, do you think?"

"It's possible, but she won't try. She'll be more focused on protecting others."

"Could I?" I question. My father sits up straight and I know exactly why.

"My dear son, if Harry Potter cannot do the trick, neither can you. The prophecy is set. You're mother and I are planning on moving before the baby arrives."

"To where? You'll still be in the world of witchcraft. If it is how you say it is, you cannot run."

"Oh I assure you we can, Scorpius. It is your choice to come with or not. You can even bring Avery if you insist but I have a feeling she'll be tangled up in the lives of her family. We've already bought a house in India." I scoff.

"You never could fight back could you?" I ask my father. "You dropped the ball when it came to Harry Potter and you're going to do it again years later."

"Your child is being out of hand, Astoria."

"Scorpius…" My mother tries. I say nothing and exhale greatly. My head began to ache.

* * *

Avery has replaced the plates like she said she would. I sit in their presence and listen to them. She comes in three hours into the session and sits down next to me on the couch. She can tell I'm upset.

"Will you put them away; I can hardly hear myself think." She requests. I do so and look at her. "What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't come with if I left England, would you?" She's confused. "Before the uprising."

"No…" She says and shakes her head. "No, I wouldn't. That's cowardly."

"I thought so too." She puts her hand on my face and leans in to kiss me. She wastes no time in straddling me. I push down the arms of her robe and let it fall to the ground. Her hands quickly undo my tie and throw it to the side. Our shirts come off and I'm dying inside, dying of so many things. Her hands go to my belt and I have to stop them there. She pulls her lips away from mine and looks into my eyes.

"I can't do this with you, Avery." I say quietly.

"What?" She asks as if I'm joking. "You…you were always asking me to."

"You have no idea how much my back hurts." Her eyes soften and she puts her hands on my face as lightly as she can.

"I forgot." Her bottom lip trembles as if she's about to cry. She stands up and puts her shirt back on. She then leads me to the bathroom where she sits me on the stool she has put in there. I look at her reflection in the mirror and can tell she's horrified by the size of the gash.

"What did he do it with?"

"His wand. I had threatened to push him down the stairs before." She touched the outer ridge of it and I winced.

"I can't do anything for this except put some type of bandage over it."

"Do whatever you can."

There's a distant knocking on our door and Avery groans.

"Shit, I'll be right back." She walks out into the common room. I hear the door open and Avery greeting someone.

"I'm busy right now, can't you come back later."

"Yes, I can tell your busy, Ave. What's this mess about?" Al Potter has visited us.

"It's nothing."

"You know there's a rumor going around about you and Malfoy." He says, tauntingly. "Sam says he caught you in a classroom the other night."

"He hasn't been around, how would he have been able to catch us?"

"So you are with Malfoy then?"

"I never said that."

"Tell me the goddamn truth, Avery." I stand up and walk out into the common room. Avery has our clothes in her hands. Al looks at me and puts his hand in his pocket as if he's reaching for his wand. "No, don't. I already know the answer."

"Would you disown her if she _was_ sleeping with me?" I ask him.

"I don't need to, I know my father would."

"That's where the apple has fallen far from the tree, Al. Harry Potter has a heart of gold. You do not." He locks his jaw and looks at Avery.

"Shirt off, on the ground next to your robe, busy…it's making sense."

"Do you know anything about alcoholism, Al?" He looks back at me, so does Avery.

"Why would I?"

"I suppose you wouldn't know, then, that my father suffers from it. And from time to time he likes to damage his own kin. My back was cut in half by his wand. Your sister was putting a bandage on it when you knocked." He looks back at Avery.

"I expect you'll be coming out tonight then." He says to her.

"If you want me to."

"I would _love_ you to." He turned and left without a goodbye. Avery stands there and I know she's on the verge of tears. I walk towards her and turn her around. She avoids my stare and bites her bottom lip.

"I wanted to stay in with you tonight." She tells me.

"I'll be alright. You do what you have to do." She takes my hand and leads me back into the bathroom. She shits me down and covers up the gash with her wand. The pressure relieves me a bit. I turn to her and take her into my arms.

"Don't get hurt tonight." I say to her. Her heart thumps against my ear. She runs her hands through my snow white hair. I only say this because I know she won't use any of her Elvin skill if she gets into trouble. She keeps it a secret from the rest of the world, as if it would make her vulnerable to everyone else. She fears she would be used a weapon, yielded against good or evil if the right person stumbles upon her.

I spend the night reading about the sons of Durmstrang. It's nearly one in the morning when I find what I am looking for. I look around the room, as if to find someone spying on me. I look back down at the book.

_The Dark Ages_

_In the late 19__th__ century, The Durmstrang Academy encountered horrendous activity in the dungeons of the school. Having been closed off for hundreds of years, it was unlikely that any student of the time would have known about the dungeons. The dungeons were originally used for the keeping and breeding of dragons but were shut down due to the heinous environment._

_A groundskeeper stumbled upon the 12 young men conspiring against another student-_

Avery busts through the door, her hair a mess and her face dirty, her lip busted. I slam the book shut and stand up, grabbing my wand off the coffee table.

"What happened to you?" I ask gravely. Her eyes grow wide in horror.

"Why are you still awake?" She asks.

"I was waiting for you to get back. What happened to you?"

"Nothing." She walks past me to the bathroom and shuts the door, locking it. I point my wand at the knob and the lock clicks. I open the door and find her undressing herself, starting a shower. She's got bruises on her wrists, her throat.

"Who did this to you, Avery?" I ask, fearing the worst. I grab her by the wrist and turn her towards me. I want to shake her like a child.

"It doesn't matter." She tells me through her clenched teeth. She pushes me off of her and stares at me. "Don't ever touch me again." She says to me.

"It was your brother. And Sam Finnigan, wasn't it?" I ask. "Did he rape you?" She says nothing and this tells me the truth. I turn and walk into the common room. She doesn't try to stop me because she knows better now. My head has never felt like it was going to burst more.

I walk down the hallways, towards the Gryffindor tower. I can hear the snickers of others watching me, the paintings taunting me. I approach their portrait hole and give the password. Being a head boy, I am given every password to any portrait in the school, to go anywhere I please, whenever I please. I climb the Gryffindor stairs and see Sam Finnigan talking to a fifth year girl, trying his hardest to seduce her. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and throw him up against the wall. I stick my wand to his throat.

"If you ever fucking touch her again, I will have your head on a Quidditch post." He laughs and I point my wand further into his flesh. I tilt my head. "I'm not lying to you, Finnigan." I don't watch, but I can feel my wand forming into a pocketknife. "I'd slit half your throat right here and leave you to bleed to death, but that's not enough satisfaction for me."

I can hear the fifth year crying in the background and I can hear others come into the room to watch.

"I didn't touch the bitch. Al threw that girl into the lake, slapped her around a bit." My hands grow cold and I let the maggot fall to the ground. I leave the Gryffindor tower and go to Albus' head boy dorm. He's sitting on his couch, Dacia's head in between his legs. I grab Dacia by the crown of her hair and throw her aside.

I cast Al across the room and onto his stomach. His shirt is ripped off by the force I turn upon it. I take the pocketknife in my hand and run it from his shoulder to his hip. He cries out in severe agony.

"You want to know what alcoholism feels like? It feels like a cold knife ripping your back in half!" I roar as I hold him down by the back of the neck. "Who will help you now that you've thrown away the most honorable relationship you had?"

"Scorpius!" Dacia screams. I lean down and get as close to his ear as possible. He's crying.

"I am _not_ someone to fuck with, Potter. If it weren't for your namesake, you would be dead right now." I pick his head up and then smash it against the floor. I walk out of the room, back to my own. Its times like these where I wish I would disappear, where I wish I had never met Avery because of all the trouble she has brought me. Mentally, I am not the same person I was before we started dating. Physically, I have become a beast, someone to be reckoned with, someone who has one button less to push everyday.

I go into my room and I can hear her crying in the bathroom. I clench my jaw and try so hard to control my anger. I can't though. I pick up the box spring of my bed and turn it over onto the other side of the bed, the mattress with it. I throw the frame on top of it. I take the lamp next to my bed and hurl it at the wall, the bulb shattering into a thousand pieces.

"SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" I scream at her. I take the nearest book and throw it against the unbreakable window. I take a drawer from my bureau and toss it at the window, cracking it slightly. I pick it up again and bang it as hard as I can against the window, new cracks appearing every time. I drop the drawer, giving up.

I go into the bathroom and find her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in a towel. I can barely look at her without feeling the need to hurt her.

"I've never been so angry at someone as I am at you right now. For the first time I know what it's like to be my father. How dare you come back here as if it's my fault that your sick brother has hurt you. I hope you have the common sense to never talk to him again." I leave her in the bathroom and I escape to Hogsmeade, unable to cope with the atmosphere of Hogwarts. I stay at the inn. I realize there that it was Sam Finnigan's birthday that night. I have collectively decided that he is the Virgin prince of Hogwarts.


	4. The Twelve

Four

By the next day, word has gotten around of my assault on Al Potter. He didn't go to the nurse's wing as I had expected him to. Instead, he showed it off to the girls around the school and I became everyone's enemy over night.

My room is still a mess the next day, the bed still turned over, the window still cracked, the light is still broken. Everything is silent and my head throbs. I go into Avery's room to find her lying in her bed, her hair drawn out all over her pillow in a mess of waves. Her eyes are shut, showing off her large eyelids to the world. Her lips are parted in the most delicate matter. Her face is soft.

I climbed into her bed and put my arm around her; she's naked, her soft body exposed to me. She turned to me without waking up and pressed her forehead to my chest. I combed my fingers through her hair, kissed her head, told her how much I needed her.

"If everything breaks, I want you next to me." I told her. She turned her head up and slowly opened her green eyes. Her bottom lip was bruised and split near the end. She pulled me onto her and I kissed the bruises on her neck. Physically, I took care of her in the dreary grayness of her room. Fog lingered outside, thick on the campus.

* * *

We sat in the common room later that day. She put my room back together in her orderly fashion, repairing everything that was broken, even the light bulb. She was doing her homework on the coffee table. I was avoiding my own homework.

"I need you to get me that prophecy, Avery." She looked back at me. My book on the sons of Durmstrang sat in my lap.

"I can't just take it. I'm not even sure I'm allowed in there yet."

"So go and try." She scoffed.

"Why do you need it so bad? What are you planning?"

"I'm not letting Sam Finnigan take over the world." She lets her quill drop to her paper and sits up straight.

"It wouldn't just be him, Scorpius."

"Yes, but clearly he's part of it."

"And who do you propose the other eleven will be?"

"That's why I need the prophecy. I have no idea who the others could be."

"What if you're one of them?" She asked. I narrowed my eyes on her. "I'm just saying. You're the most powerful wizard at Hogwarts right now."

"How do you figure?"

"Don't be stupid; you almost sent Sam to his death, not to mention everyone is scared of you now because of Al."

"How did you hear about that? You haven't left the room all day."

"Dacia came and told me." I shook my head and groaned. "She said you were acting like an animal."

"Was she picking sides?"

"What? Not at all. She wanted to know where you were, if you were okay."

"Did she tell you what she was doing with Al?" She shook her head. "Blowing him." Avery looked down, extremely pissed off.

"I can make an appointment to go to the Ministry tomorrow. I can bring Harry with."

"Don't do that." She looked at me.

"And why not?"

"Because, I don't want him to know you're doing it for me."

"Then come with the two of us. He doesn't mind you, Scorpius. He thinks you're a genius."

"I can't. If either of your brothers-"

"Al is hardly a brother. And James could care less; he's always in his own world. Come with." My throat became tight with the idea of seeing Harry Potter in the flesh. I hadn't seen him since the year Avery had come to Hogwarts.

* * *

Avery cleaned herself up before we went to dinner that night. She put on makeup to cover up the bruises and cuts. Everyone watched us as we walked into the Great Hall and I managed to stare them all down in efforts to make Avery feel a little more comfortable. We took our places at the table of administration and dinner was served.

That night, unlike every other night, Headmistress McGonagall took her seat next to me at the very end of the table where no one ever sat.

"I understand there have been some altercations between you and another Head Boy." She said.

"And who might bring you this news, professor?"

"The staff has been overhearing it in the hallways all day. Something about a butcher's knife." I chuckled.

"I can assure you that any altercation I've had has not involved a butcher's knife and has been handled like a mature adult."

"I'm trusting you, Malfoy. If I hear of anything more, _I_ can assure _you_ that you will be thrown from your position and we will reconsider Sam Finnigan for Head Boy." My eyes grew in disgust. I looked at Avery and saw how angry she was. McGonagall stood and walked away.

"I'd put a gun to my mouth before I shared a dorm with that piece of scum." She said to me.

* * *

Avery and I waited at the fireplaces of the Ministry. She had dressed in her nicest black robes and had made me do the same. Hundreds of wizards and witches came and went as we waited for the almighty Harry Potter. We had been twenty minutes early, though, seeing as how I had no desire to piss off Mr. Potter.

He came through a fireplace after it erupted in green flame. There was no dirt on his face proving that he had mastered the Floo Network after all these years, something my father still talked about. His black hair was slicked back and he was sporting a five-o'clock shadow. As were Avery and I, he had sported all black as well, but he wore it so much better than my father. Part of me wished my mother had married him.

He nodded at me.

"Morning, Scorpius. How is the old man?" He asked as he led the way to the Department of Mysteries.

"He's good, moving to India soon." Avery looked at me, wide-eyed.

"India? Trying to avoid this whole Zodiac thing?"

"Yes."

"Smart man. I'd do the same if I wasn't an auror."

"Really?" Avery asked. Harry looked at his adopted daughter and nodded. "You wouldn't stay and fight against it?"

"My war days are over, Avery. I am still very much worn out from them." He brought us to an elevator and it dropped so uncomfortably fast I felt like vomiting. "So is that what brings the two of you here, then? The prophecy?"

"Well, yes. Scorpius-" Avery began.

"If I read it correctly, there is no way of stopping it. Only those who create the Alliance can bring it down and I am positive they won't do so once it's started." The doors of the elevator opened and we stepped into the Department to see a few wizards staring off into space.

"You've already seen it?" Avery asked. "It just got here."

"Correct."

"Did it have any specifics on it?" I asked. He looked at me and hesitated.

"I believe it had a few, one concerning you." We followed Mr. Potter through the circular foyer and then through a long room filled with clocks, all ticking and irritating my mind. Avery caught the look of nauseating pain on my face and grabbed my hand. Harry glanced at me.

"Are the two of you dating? That's quite the powerful pair if you are."

"It bothers Al." Avery told him.

"Yes, well that doesn't surprise me. Al wants to be king of the world."

He stopped at the door to the Hall of Prophecy and looked back at us.

"Are you okay, Malfoy?"

"I have a headache. I'll be fine." He faltered for a minute, squinting his eyes just a little. He then placed his palm against my forehead. I could feel my pupils dilate and every bit of me trembled, my hand tightening around Avery's. My throat felt like it was closing up and I was getting no oxygen. I gasped for air. Avery looked at Harry, worried. He took his palm away and in an instant, all of the reactions I had just faced reversed and my headache was gone.

"Better?" He asked. I nodded in awe. "You shouldn't feel any pain for about a week. And…before we go in here, I must insist that you don't tell anyone of power that I let you in here. It won't ruin my job but I won't be able to get you in here in the future." Avery nodded.

He opened the door and all the prophecies glowed in their orbs. He led us down the hall, almost to the end. We went to the middle of aisle 112 and he crouched down to look at the bottom row.

"How did you manage to read it if you aren't able to touch it?" I asked.

"I had the keeper with me. You have to grab it, Mr. Malfoy." He said and pointed to a small orb in the back. I knelt down beside him and fished it out. Its glow was dull, hardly lit but when I picked it up the inside exploded with an ochre liquid.

_Aurora Sinistra._

I looked at Avery, recognizing the name as the Astronomy professor.

"The Zodiac lies within the stars." Avery told me. I looked back down. The name evaporated into a cloud and more names appeared in the orb.

_Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy._

_Samuel Arthur Finnigan._

_Meredith Evangeline Thomas._

_Helena Quinn Vane. _

_Hunter Wellington Goyle._

_Caine Deimos Nott._

_Nike Olivia Shacklebolt._

_Jackson Snowden Wood._

_Evada Whitley Caldwell._

_Catharina Aella Ward. _

_Francis Nicholai de Marche._

_Matthias Aiolis Jordan. _

_Given a first breath of air on the seventh night of November, a new bearer of power will take reign over the world of witchcraft. He will gather eleven accomplices to form a reign of the reincarnated Zodiac. Each member of the Zodiac Alliance will bring forth a new summit of knowledge and rare force, but the Scorpion will control all. Impossible to obliterate by any outside strength, the almighty Alliance can only be broken if one member so chooses to remove him or herself by death. If the Scorpion chooses to kill one of his accomplices he will meet death himself. If any of the Alliance chooses to kill an accomplice, they will fall prey to the Scorpion's sting. Should the Scorpio eliminate one of his accomplices for any reason other than having the face of betrayal, one of the remaining accomplices will take his place and the world will be led into a state of eternal damnation._

I looked at Avery who was frightened yet perplexed at the same time. She looked at Harry.

"You were born on the seventh, were you not?"

"Yes, but, I don't see how this works-"

"You don't have to because it _will_ work."

"Sam Finnigan and I are hardly friends, Mr. Potter."

"It didn't say you had to be friends. But if you kill him, you're only vowing to kill yourself in some way or another." Avery stared at Harry in horror. "I urge you if you intend on marrying my daughter that you get over any row you're having with Samuel Finnigan."

"Should I plan on keeping this a secret? The list?" He thought for a moment.

"Let them reveal themselves to you. Then it will make more sense why they're names are there." I looked back down at the milky, yellow orb.

* * *

Avery and I returned to the school unsure of what to think of the prophecy. There were so many questions that I needed to ask, yet I was too overwhelmed to do so. I sat on the edge of the woods where Sam Finnigan's body was found. It was hard to believe that I had not one single friend in the Alliance I was just assigned. They were all acquaintances, nothing more. I knew nothing about any of them, except Nike whom I had taken out to dinner during my fifth year. Afterwards I had lost my virginity to her in the woods. I slapped myself for thinking of that.

I tried my hardest to remember when her birthday was. I shut my eyes and rubbed my temples. And it came to me, suddenly, as if I had this new found power that I had never known before. Nike was the Bull of the group. She would be my backbone I decided. She was sturdy and reliable.

* * *

I went to dinner and saw Nike sitting at her Ravenclaw table. Next to Albus Potter, she was easily the best Quidditch player in the school. She was most likely the smartest person in the school and probably the most liked. I approached her nervously. I hadn't told Avery of my revelation in the woods but I was sure she would understand.

I had told Nike that it wouldn't work out simply because I wanted to focus on school. And at the time I had been telling the truth. But by the time Avery came around, I had no desire to focus on school. She had been angry for a long time after and gave me dirty looks in the hall which intimidated me more than anything. But I believed she got over it when she started sleeping with Harper Zabini during the middle of our sixth year.

I squeezed Nike's shoulder and she looked up at me. Her friends smirked.

"I need to talk to you." I said grimly. She asked no questions but followed me out of the Great Hall and down into the empty potions classroom.

"You aren't going to stab me in the back are you?" She joked.

"No, I'm not." I said flatly. Her expression became suspicious of me. "Have you heard of anything regarding the Zodiac?" She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.

"I mean, I studied the twelve guys at Durmstrang. I've heard about that."

"Right, well there's a prophecy for twelve people here." She laughed.

"I don't believe you. No one's fucked up enough to do that here."

"I held the prophecy in my hand today. Harry Potter brought me to it. You were on the list for the twelve people." Again, her expression changed.

"How is that possible? I have nothing to offer any alliance."

"Don't lie to me, Nike. I've seen the things you can do with fire."

"When have you ever seen that? I never show that to anyone." I clench my jaw, praying that I'm not coming off crazy. I had viewed her as a bull, set on fire, running through woods. That was all I knew of her experimentation with fire. But she had admitted it to me and that was all I needed.

"I need you to trust me. _I_ need to be able to trust someone. I don't know what to do." I pleaded. She looked around the area to make sure no one was watching us.

"Avery can't help you?" She asked.

"Avery isn't a part of the Alliance."

"What exactly are you fighting against, Scorpius? Sam Finnigan?"

"You don't get it. He's part of it. If I kill him, I get killed too."

"You're losing your mind, Scorpius."

There was a heavy knock on the door.

"Mr. Malfoy, dinner can't be served unless you're there." I looked over, my heart beating as hard as it could. Professor Longbottom stood in the doorway, his typical look of worry painted on his face. We followed him to the Great Hall where once again all eyes turned on me. Nike walked back to her place and I walked towards Avery who looked betrayed. I sat down next to her and put a hand on her knee.

"Don't make me look like a fool." She whispered. I looked at her; I _glared_ at her.

"Do you have any idea what I'm going through right now?"

"No, do you have any idea what _I'm_ going through?" I felt like telling her I didn't care. I knew she would erupt and leave dinner, though. I felt like crying, to be honest.

* * *

I left dinner as soon as I could and went back to my room. I laid on the bed for the first time in what felt like a year. I hadn't just laid down on a bed to relax in months. The thought of relaxing right then, though, didn't make sense. How could one relax with so much on his mind?

I wondered what my life would have been like if I had chosen to date Nike. She had been such a calm girl all these years, never fussy, and I remembered that her laugh sent me into oblivion.

We had been completely high on some kind of weed she had discovered out in the woods the weekend before. And we were in the woods that surrounded Hogsmeade when we smoked it out of her glass bowl which changed colors with every hit. The two of us had been incredibly tense and nervous during dinner that we had hardly spoken.

I remembered watching her laugh after she took a long hit off the piece. Her teeth were so white and her skin was so dark. She was half black, her mother being white and her father…well her father was the Minister of Magic. Her hair was wavy and thick, her eyes dark, her body thin and taught.

I closed my eyes with the thought of Nike on my mind. It was so horrible to think of her in such a way when I had my own affair going on.

I heard the door creak open later that night and a soft weight on my bed. I was half-asleep, in complete bliss. I felt the warmth of a woman on top of me and I felt her lips press down on my shoulder and her cool hands run down my biceps.

I grabbed Avery's arm gently and pulled her next to me. I kissed her neck before sitting up and taking off my shirt. She pulled me back into her arms, but I refused, making her sit up. I removed all of her clothes without any talk. I kissed her everywhere before I allowed myself to delve into her. I could feel my eyes burn as I closed them and more so every time she breathed into my ear. She held onto me as tightly as she could as a child does to its parent, afraid to let go and look at the world.

Before that night, I had never slept with a girl I really liked. I had slept with plenty of them before Avery decided she wanted to be with me. And they were all wonderful girls from good families, some from Hogwarts, and some from around Wiltshire. But Avery had always struck me differently. She had such a melancholy allure that attracted me.

The first time I had talked to her was in Defense Against the Dark Arts during my fifth year. She had sat next to me in the back and I had been trying to swallow my nerves the whole time.

"You're the one no one likes around here, aren't you?" She asked. I looked up at her, angry that she already had that impression of me.

"You could say that. I keep to myself, though."

"I can tell. You never leave the common room."

"You wouldn't either if you were a Malfoy. But you're a Potter."

"Not really. I hardly know them."

"Well you probably shouldn't be talking to me then, just for future references." She grinned.

"Is this how you make all your friends?" I said nothing, just looked at her. She looked down and smirked. "No, you just stare at them. I could use a study buddy for this class." She looked back up at me. "I won't tell any of the Potters."


	5. Sinistra

**_Author's note: _**Yes I did change the tense. Perhaps I should have changed the previous chapters but I didn't think readers would be too pissed. It's very difficult to write in present tense, though, and I was not feeling up to the challenge. I'll have you all know, though, that I just started the eighteenth chapter of this. Hope you're looking forward to it.

Five

I couldn't fall back asleep after one that morning. I had slept for a while but it was more of a nap. I left Avery in my bed and dressed myself. I walked the school for sometime before making my way up the longest staircase in the school. I caught myself pressing the tip of my wand to the door handle of the astronomy classroom.

Aurora Sinistra was sitting behind her desk, writing away vigorously. She stopped, let her quill fall down to her desk and slowly looked up at me. She had gotten so old over the summer. She was already old but it had looked as if she hadn't slept a wink while away.

A candle behind my hand lit up and she studied me for a moment.

"I had a feeling you would come to visit tonight." She said to me. I walked towards her desk, grabbed a chair and sat in front of the desk. She took her papers, put them in a folder and stacked that folder on top of others. Another candle by her desk lit up. "You look like death."

"I feel like it."

"Scorpius you need not give up faith in the world." I tilted me head.

"What am I supposed to think? What am I supposed to _do_? That prophecy of yours told me nothing."

"It told you enough. _You_ let the events unravel and you get to choose to put a stop to certain ones."

"What events?" She sighed and clasped her hands over her desk. She leaned in a little bit to look at me over her glasses.

"I don't predict the future, Mr. Malfoy. I look at the stars."

"How did you come upon the prophecy then?"

"A shooting star passed through each of the zodiacs that night. It's as simple as that."

"How did you come up with our names?" She sighed again.

"I look at the zodiac differently than most astronomers do. I split the constellations into rows, each row representing one of its days. I caught the star going through the scorpion on the seventh day of November, so on through the thirteenth day of December, the first of January…" She stood up, grabbed a chart off of a shelf and spread it out on her desk. She pointed to each of the days, a line connecting them all. "The 23rd of January, the seventh of March, March 28th, May 17th, June fifth, June 30th, August 22nd, the 19th of September, and finally the eighth of October." She turned and went back to her shelf. She grabbed a packet and turned back around. She sat down again. It was a list of names, many crossed off, a few with stars next to them, but only twelve circled.

"You were the only student born on the seventh day of November in the school, therefore making you the Scorpio of the bunch. Meredith Thomas will be your Sagittarius, Caine Nott as your Capricorn, Jackson Wood for your Aquarius, Helena Vane the Pisces, Hunter Goyle the Aries ram, Nike Shacklebolt the Taurus, Evada Caldwell the Gemini, Catharina Ward the Cancer, de Marche as your Leo, Sam Finnigan as the Virgo, and Matthias Jordan as the Libra."

"How did you decide among the students who had doppelganger birthdays?"

"I ran into that in four cases; Evada Caldwell was particularly difficult to weed out because of her sign in the first place. She shares a birthday with three other young women in the school, consequently giving me eight personalities to work with. One of the girls was much too young to possess such knowledgeable power, only a second year. Another hasn't shown excellence in any of her classes. The third is definitely sizeable to Evada, but Evada had showed up on the first day of classes with a bouquet of lilies for me, five to be exact, all yellow. The first day of school was a Wednesday. A lily is the flower of a Gemini, five is the number, yellow the color and Wednesday…the day of a Gemini. There was no question that she was the Gemini after that."

"I witnessed de Marche taking care of a lioness in his Care of Magical Creature class years ago, lion being the sign of the Leo. I also happened to witness Matthias giving his girlfriend a necklace with gems of beryl and jade lapis lazuli, something that would have been questionable if they weren't on the same chain."

"It could have been her birthstone-"

"His girlfriend is an Aquarius. I highly doubt Matthias would have known to get the girl jade lapis lazuli even if it was her birthstone."

I nodded.

"And who was the fourth?"

"Caine Nott has the same birthday as Avery Potter-Romanox." I sat up a little straighter to get a better grasp on her reasoning. "Avery would have been the Capricorn had I not found out some incredibly important and clandestine information about her bloodline. The fact that she is an Elf makes it impossible for her to be a part of any prophecy."

"Why? I've never heard of that before. I thought any being that possesses some form of magic could be in a prophecy."

"Wrong. Given that she is indeed immortal there is no point in creating a prophecy with her name in it; she won't die and most prophecies include death."

"There are so many, though. How could there be so many prophecies that include death? How could there be that much death in the world?" She thought for a moment.

"Scorpius, you are given one life to fathom things beyond your years but in doing so you are only wasting time to do the things that life has given you potential to do. Prophecies can be made hundreds of years in advanced and I assure you they will happen when they are meant to happen."

I looked down, feeling sickened by her words.

"I know what your next question is." She said.

"You don't predict the future."

"No, but I can tell by the look on your face." I looked up at her. "Death…cannot be outrun by the twelve signs of the zodiac. You are bringing together a force of clashing personalities and one of them will eventually fall prey to you, unless, of course, you yourself fall prey to their undermining ways. You are the scorpion for a reason. You are the most intense sign, the most critical and a drive that the others could not comprehend in their wildest dreams. You are a manipulative person, though, and if anything will be the death of you, it will be you're self-destructive, resentful, jealous suspicion of the group. I advise you to take one of my books and study the traits of the Zodiac. Or, you could come in every other night and we could talk about this. I can't assist you, Scorpius. I can only offer you the facts."

"I'll come in again."

I went back to my dorm and crept back into bed with Avery. Her body was so warm to the touch, the comfort of all comforts.


	6. The Bull

Six

I sat next to Avery in the Quidditch stands. It was the first game of the year and Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw. It was a good setup with Nike in the pitch.

"Why don't they ever put us in for the first game, Scorpius?" Dacia asked. She stood in the row ahead of us.

"Whoever wins the cup the previous year plays the first game which is Gryffindor." Dev explained. "And they won't start the season with rival teams so the best match up would be against Ravenclaw because of Nike Shacklebolt."

"She still sleeping with Harper?" Dacia whispered to her brother who stood on the other side of me.

"Who knows." I said as I watched Nike fly into the air. She was the Seeker, playing opposite of Al Potter. I crossed my arms over my chest and Avery clasped her hands around my bicep, resting her chin on my shoulder. The whistle was blown and Nike was off like a bullet, Al trailing behind her.

Sam Finnigan wasted no time in sending a bludger straight towards Nike. It collided with her hip and sent her into the stands. She collected herself within seconds, shooting off towards Al. She grabbed the end of his broom and pulled it back, propelling him into a whirlwind. In my time, the way most Quidditch players looked at the game was that if someone was playing dirty against you, you could play dirty against them and that was how most matches went.

Al sped towards Nike and pushed her into the people of the Hufflepuff stands. She stood with a menacing look in her eyes, mounted her broom and went much further than Al could ever go. She pressed her hand against the back of his neck and he stopped instantly, bellowing in sheer pain. I felt Avery's chin lift off my shoulder. Sam Finnigan sent yet another bludger towards Nike, this time aiming for her shoulder as she reached out for the snitch. She looked at the bludger as it came her way and in an instant it set on fire. She grabbed the snitch and the game was called. It lasted not even ten minutes.

"Shit, well I suppose we have a new rival." Dev said to me with a smile on his face. I watched as Nike flew back down to the ground. She didn't even look at Al Potter, who had his hand on the back of his neck and looked as if he were going to cry. Sam Finnigan went up to Nike and pushed her back.

"That's not fucking allowed, you wench!" He yelled into her face.

"What, kicking your ass or making you look like an idiot?"

"Setting the fucking ball on fire!"

"I never even raised my wand, Finnigan." I looked at Avery who was extremely worried about her brother, but was trying her hardest to conceal it. I grabbed her hand and led her down the stairs, off the pitch and into the Gryffindor locker rooms. Al had taken off his equipment and was trying desperately to look at his neck in the mirror. He became frustrated and smashed his fist into the glass.

"FUCK!" He yelled. Avery walked up behind him and set her hand on his burnt neck. His head jerked backwards and his shoulders tightened up. He gasped but didn't resist Avery's touch. She lifted her hand and the burn was gone. He struggled to regain his breath and sat down on one of the benches, touching his neck. He looked up at me and then at Avery.

"Get out of here before Sam comes." He said to the two of us. Inside, he was grateful for Avery and me at that moment.

We walked to Hogsmeade for lunch afterwards, something most of the student body did after matches. Most of the underclassmen whispered about Avery and I, confirming all their previous rumors. I opened the door for her and put my hand on her back as she stepped inside. I did everything a gentleman should do for his woman; I ordered for her, I paid for her, I toasted to her. I wanted every girl to be jealous of her. I wanted her to be the one who felt special among the rest.

"Where did you go last night?" She asked.

"To talk to Professor Sinistra. She told me a lot. You have the same birthday as Caine Nott." She nodded. "Which put you in a position to be the Capricorn."

"I'm an Elf; I can't be in a prophecy."

"I wish I would have known."

"It wouldn't have solved anything. Don't you realize that every person in this Alliance hates another? Sam and Nike will be at each other's throats; de Marche and Jordan have never gotten along. Sinistra has set all of you up against one another."

"It's not like that, Avery."

"I don't trust her. De Marche and Jordan have never gotten along. Sinistra has set all of you up against one another."

"It's not like that, Avery."

"I don't trust her. One or maybe all of you are going to end up dying because of this."

"It won't be me."

"If you can tell yourself not to murder Sam Finnigan." I cleared my throat becoming uncomfortable with the conversation in such a public area. "Say if you do end up dying because of this, Sam Finnigan will take over and you know that."

"Not if Nike gets to him first."

"Since when have you had faith in her?"

"I can trust her; she's the bull."

"But can she trust you?" Avery asked me. I blinked, unsure what to say. "I'm not trying to annoy you, Scorpius. But it's your responsibility to keep these…these…these _people_ from killing one another. A lot of bad things are going to happen and you're going to be the one liable for those things. Sam Finnigan is going to turn his back on you once he has you and he'll kill you, at least try. And the thing is, you can't do anything back unless he kills one of the ten other people. You're going to have to make a lot more sacrifices than you originally thought."

* * *

The more I thought about what Avery had said to me at dinner, the more it got to me. I couldn't sleep that night, unable to wait for my next session with Professor Sinistra. She had a class that night, however.

I roamed around the school, leaving Avery in my bed again. The dead school was the only comfort I had found during the day. Everything else was irrelevant to me.

Slowly, I walked down the third floor hallway, peeking into every dark and empty classroom. It seemed that everyone in the school was oblivious to what was really going on. Hogwarts was on the brink of disaster, waiting for twelve students to unfold and reign over them. Or maybe it was just me…maybe they were only oblivious to me. Perhaps I was the only one who was on the brink of disaster and everyone else was just waiting for me to detonate.

I began to wonder if it was just me who thought that Hogwarts had gone down the drain since Harry Potter's time. No one else seemed affected by it the way I did. No one sat around in their gloom and rewound all the day's events like I did. Everyone else was smiling and laughing, and in love with someone or something. I couldn't find what that was for me. At that point in life, I believed that I was in love with Avery, but she was becoming disconnected and lost for me. It was as if my power was already wearing on her, like she was backing away from me, unsure what to put her faith in.

I looked over the balcony as I heard a girl's giggle. I saw a pair from Ravenclaw running in from the outside and then stopping briefly to kiss. They then went towards their tower.

I was certain that everything, given enough time, was sure to break. All happiness and bliss gets washed away if one does not have the means to take care of it. All fathers become distant from their children, knowing the evils they have put upon someone else's daughter in the past. All mothers ruminate on the idea of running away with a lover they don't know yet, for their life has become too secure and comfortable. All children bear the knowledge that their parents aren't happy anymore and cover it up with the fact that some mothers and fathers still get joy out of their child's smile. Everything, given enough time, breaks and when one cannot repair it, they put a white sheet over it and hope that it still looks nice.

Every being in her right time comes to find that life will never be the storybook she has imagined. In her right time, she finds that her lover, her man, can't love her the way he used to because too much has come in between them. Everything is irrevocable in its own way, but in the case of romance, we focus far too much on the binds that have already broken, rather than trying to create new ones.

I sat down on the couch and watched the fire flicker. It was nearly three in the morning. Already, I felt too young to have this burden being placed on my shoulders.

I recalled the first time I kissed Avery. So much time had passed. The both of us were so different, no longer naïve to what was really going on in the world.

I felt her hands on me at six in the morning. The fire was just fading. She put her arms around my neck, rested her chin on my shoulder, and kissed my cheek.

"I wish you would have just come back to bed." She whispered. "I like the feeling of your strong arms around me."

"There are so many things I need to know." I said bluntly, watching the last of the fire lick the air around it.

"But not when you should be sleeping." I turned to her.

"I can't sleep when all of this is going on." I stood up and without another word raced up to the Astronomy classroom. She wasn't sitting at her desk, but I knew she was around. I knocked on her living quarter's door. After no response, I banged on the door. It flew open, Aurora Sinistra looking unquestionably pissed off. She was tired, only wearing a robe.

"It's six in the goddamn morning, Malfoy."

"I haven't slept at all. I need to know everything."

"You have classes in an hour. Come back when you've had something to eat and taken a nap."

"I can't sleep!" I begged. I could feel tears well up in my eyes.

"Malfoy...I can't help you right now. Maybe you should take the day off, go to Hogsmeade or something. Maybe you could even take a daytrip back to Wiltshire." I looked at her, feeling as if my chest were going to cave in any moment from all the anticipation. She shut the door and I knew that I wasn't going to see her until after midnight.

I went back to my dorm to find Avery doing her hair.

"You could go visit my father for the day. Perhaps he would have some answers for you."

"I know better than to disturb him."

"He won't be disturbed, Scorpius." I sat down on the couch and snapped at the fire to light it up once more. "He thinks you're incredibly brilliant. He sent me a letter yesterday." She went to her room and shuffled through a few things. I watched her; she was only wearing her lace underwear and black bra then. Even the sight of her gorgeous body could not tear me away from my flustered thoughts.

She came back out, holding a piece of folded parchment. She handed it to me and went back to the bathroom.

_My darling bird,_

_I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be named your father. I know I do not show it as much as I should, but I do consider you one of my own. You grow more intoxicatingly beautiful, outside and in, everyday. I hope Al is taking care of you, looking out for you like family should. Lily says you do more than enough as a big sister. James is becoming more and more successful with his public relations job, though he still would much rather be in my department. I keep telling him that anything worth attaining does not come for free and I won't partake in just giving him something he hasn't worked for._

_I must say, however, that I was not surprised that you brought Scorpius Malfoy with you. At first, I felt betrayed that you didn't tell me about your relationship with him. Then I realized how awkward it must have been for you to be in a family who has had held nothing more than hatred for Draco and Lucius Malfoy. But I had to remind myself that I've heard good things about Scorpius, having excelled in the Defense Against the Dark Arts program, as well as potions and charms. _

_It makes sense, the two of you being together. You are so strong willed and he is of course very talented, yet very humble and he isn't afraid to be vulnerable, something his father couldn't appreciate. I could sense how troubled he was when I took care of his headache. You are a very stable young woman, which is what all young men want, especially someone like him. _

_I believe that he was put into that prophecy for many reasons; one, for his intense intuition, the idea that something is going on behind his back. He follows the patterns of _everyone_, not just those closest to him, and he can predict almost any outcome. Two, Scorpius can control his extreme emotions when he takes the time to tell himself to do so. He thinks things through, what one action will lead to opposed to another. Three, being a Scorpio, he is blinded by his obsessive, compulsive, jealous and almost unimaginable resentfulness towards others. He cannot trust another without becoming suspicious and everything inside of him is a secret. Ultimately, the task of balancing out his emotions will be the one that defines his life or not._

_He is a brilliant young man, Avery, and if you intend to keep him for yourself, it is important that you know all of this. If he is ever feeling unsure of where he is in his life, or perhaps just needs the sympathy of another, I urge you to send him to me. _

_My dear bird, write back as soon as you can. I love you with all my heart has to offer. I know that you will do what you must in order to protect yourself. _

_Yours always,_

_Harry Potter._

* * *

I felt Avery's arms around me again.

"Please go to him." She said to me. "He'll be waiting for you in Wiltshire." I turned to look at her, confused.

"Wiltshire?"

"He wanted to talk to your father." I stood up without hesitation and went to my room to get dressed. "He thought it was best that Draco know, Scorpius."

"Why wouldn't you have told me?" I asked, slipping on a fresh pair of slacks.

"I didn't want to worry you."

"You and your family are the last people who should be concerning their selves with my father."

"Harry can talk to him, Scorpius. If anyone can sway your father, it's Harry."

"Maybe so, but that is _my_ father, Avery. Don't you get it? Wouldn't you want to be there if Draco was- oh, never mind, it's not the same!" I buttoned up a white shirt quickly and then proceeded to pull a navy sweater over it. I put on my robes and grabbed my wand from the coffee table.

"Scorpius!" Avery shouted before I walked out. I turned to look at her. "Why are you being like this?" I said nothing. There was no answer for my rage inside.

I left the grounds as fast as I could and apparated to Wiltshire as steadily as I could. I landed a few hundred yards away from the manor, in the woods. I could see my mother and father giving Harry a tour of the grounds. I checked my watch; it was barely eight in the morning.

I ran towards the manor and stopped before they looked over at me, both of my parents baffled by my presence. Harry Potter looked as if he had expected me there.

"What are you doing?" I questioned loudly. I wasn't sure if I was asking my parents or Harry Potter.

"It's very nice, Draco." Harry said, keeping his gaze on me. "Scorpius, your parents tell me you have a fantastic collection of photo albums. I hear some of the pictures are portraits of my daughters." I coughed, my throat dry, and then tears flooded my eyes again. I cupped my hand over my mouth and looked down at my feet. I then looked away from them. I shrugged, meeting my parents' stares again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Harry Potter.

"He's weary." Astoria said to him. "Draco, shall we go prepare something to eat for the two of them?" My father followed his wife into the house, leaving me with Harry Potter.

"I'd like to see the pictures." I coughed again and nodded. I led him up to my room, taking out one of the albums that had Lily and Avery inside. For the six months before the summer, Lily had been the only one to know about Avery and I. She supported it and we took her with whenever we left the grounds. In a way, we cared for her much like she was our own child.

I handed the album to him and he sat down before my desk. All the pictures were black and white, all still. I didn't like to include moving pictures, only because it took away from the classic beauty of photography.

"Who would have thought that Scorpius Malfoy was skilled in the arts?" He said. "When were these taken?" I glanced at them, pacing back and forth in my room, trying to regain my self-control.

"Spring. You can have any of those."

"I wouldn't want to raid your work."

"I have all of the original film. Please, Mr. Potter, take whichever ones strike you." I coughed once more and took a deep breath. I watched as he pulled my favorite picture of Avery out of the screen it was in. She was laughing at something Lily had said. She was laying down in the field we had encountered somewhere on the outside of Hogwarts.

"Avery tells me you've been troubled since reading the prophecy."

"Wouldn't you be? Never mind, Harry Potter doesn't get troubled."

"Not often anymore. Sometimes when I'm thinking about my kids, but I have to remind myself of what I was doing when I was your age. You have a lot of questions, I understand."

"Yes." I said flatly. He looked back and blinked.

"You can trust me, Scorpius. I may not have all the answers, but I can give you a platform at least." I said nothing, unsure what he was looking for me to ask. "Let's start with this, what would you do if Nike Shacklebolt were to turn her back on you and kill Sam Finnigan?"

"Well I would have to kill her. But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I lost…"

"Your virginity to the girl. I know. The kids come home and they have a whole array of stories to tell me. But that's not the point. If Nike Shacklebolt kills Sam Finnigan, you are going to kill her."

"I can't. I just-"

"It's not a matter of _you_, Scorpius. The prophecy will be fulfilled in some way or another."

"There." I said. "That's my question." I stopped myself for a moment and delved into my deepest thoughts. "Why death? How did Sinistra come up with the part of us killing one another?"

"I can guarantee that she herself did not come up with that."

"Then where did it come from?"

"An epiphany maybe. Perhaps it even came from a dream." I scoffed.

"I will do all of them a favor and kill myself if she came up with this through a dream."

"If you kill yourself, you're leaving Avery and your mother and the other few people you may care about to Sam Finnigan. I am not certain about a lot of things that concern you, Scorpius, but I am certain that if you are taken out of your own equation, Sam Finnigan will replace you."

"How can you be certain of that?"

"The two of you are opposites in the Zodiac. You won't take a back seat and he won't be able to follow any rules. Which is why, in your position, you need to refrain from hurting him because he will find a way to use it against you, maybe through himself, or possibly by putting you up against another of the Alliance. You're going to need to trust your perception of the patterns that people follow, but you mustn't be jaded by your suspicion. I know how you are, Scorpius. You believe in your intuition much more than you believe in your race and that's perfectly fine. But sometimes you take it too far and forget to have faith in those around you, which is where you usually make your most fatal mistakes."

"What are you talking about?"

"You've lost an immense amount of appreciation for your parents over the last year because of your father's addiction. Which is understandable, but he does love you and would give up most anything to ease your suffering."

"How could you possibly know that?" Harry Potter shut my photo album after taking a few more pictures of his daughters. He set the black, leather bound book on my bedside table and looked back at me.

"Well, I would hope all fathers felt that way about their sons. But I arrived very early this morning, unable to sleep. Your mother was up and running, tidying up the house for whatever the day brought it. Your father was in his study, writing. Would it surprise you that your father has written a whole book about his relationship with you?"

"It would be a short book." Harry stood up and shrugged.

"It's pretty thick. I imagine a lot of it concerns the days of your childhood. Draco keeps to himself and he knows that you are ashamed of him."

"I never said I was-"

"You don't have to, Scorpius. He can read you like the back of his hand; you are his child."

I followed Mr. Potter downstairs, feeling incredibly tired all of the sudden. We found my parents looking out our big bay window in the dining room at the backyard, both with cups of tea in their hands. Astoria turned around and beamed at me.

"I'm afraid I have to get to work, but it was nice to see the both of you. I'm sure I'll be in touch." He shook hands with my father and kissed my mother on the cheek. I walked him to the door and lingered for a moment before saying goodbye.

"How do I reach you if I need help?"

"Come to my office. If they send you away, tell them your name and you will be sent right through."

"Thank you." He nodded.

"Get some rest, Scorpius. You do look awful."

* * *

I slept in my own bed for the day, my dreams infected with visions of my childhood, running through the backyard, my father chasing after me and my mother warding him off with affection. Those were the only times I could remember my father being happy. My mother, as well. I wondered if they would find the same happiness when the new baby arrived. Why did happiness, such as the moment in the backyard, weaken and disintegrate into a colorless world?

I awoke with a gentle pressure on my bed. Astoria sat in the crook of my knees and ran her gentle hand through my hair. It was thundering outside, raining as heavy as ever.

"You have a visitor, my son." She said to me. I cleared my throat and looked around seeing no one.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Seven at night." I sighed, sat up and rubbed my eyes. My mother stood and looked around my room.

"Mr. Potter informed us that you're having a hard time in school. Something about being in a rut."

"You could call it a rut, I suppose." I yawned and stood, fixing my wrinkled slacks.

"You know you can come back any day you want. You can bring Avery too."

"I have things I need to tend to. When I have a day off, I'll bring her." I looked at her and she seemed somewhat disappointed. I followed her downstairs and saw a wet Slytherin cloak hung by the fireplace. Astoria led me into the drawing room where my father was, in front of one of his many bookcases, skimming all the titles. Finally he pulled a book out and went over to the loveseat where a familiar head of sopping chocolate hair resided.

"Our family history does trace back to the Elvin colonies, at least where they were once heavily inhabitant." Both heads turned up slowly and my heart suddenly felt heavy, recalling what Harry Potter had told me about my father. Draco had such a look of dear innocence on his face that it was hard to believe he really was a man and not in fact closer to my age.

"I should go back to school now." I told him. He nodded and shut the book slowly. Avery stood and looked at him.

"You'll have to show me more soon. Scorpius will have to bring me over for the weekend soon." She said gently and smiled. He stood, grinning. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek. She then exited and followed my mother to the fireplace. He returned the book to its place and when he faced me, I avoided his stare.

"The world may be in a dire state and I don't pretend to understand what you may be going through. But you are _my_ son and I wish you could fathom the honor I feel when your name is brought up in conversation. No one else can ever have that." I looked up, my eyes, once more burning from the familiar sting of tears. I could hear my mother and Avery making plans in the background.

For some reason, I knew right then and there that those plans would never be able to follow through. I knew I would never stand in my father's study again. I knew I would never see him in that light again. My whole childhood had passed me by in one sweeping wave and it was never to be found again.

"I am the Scorpio of the Zodiac Alliance." I confessed. He wasn't in the least surprised and I hadn't expected him to be. "There are things I need to do. If anything were to end up…happening to me, I would request that you make sure Avery gets taken care of, that the Potters in general are taken care of." He nodded.

* * *

Avery and I hurried up the stairs in somewhat of a heated conversation. Everyone was out that night, expecting a duel of some sort. A part of me didn't care who was involved; I couldn't be caught out there if something were to happen.

"What else did he say to you?" I asked, feeling panicked.

"Just that he knew that he was part of the whole thing. He wanted to know when you were coming and I told him I didn't know. He left afterwards."

"He didn't put his hands on you?"

"No. He seemed frightened almost." I looked at her; her cheeks were flushed from being cold and her eyes were tired. I stopped her once we reached the landing of the stairs. I gently pressed her up against the wall and cupped my hands around her cheeks. She touched my wrists.

"I need you to go see who is dueling tonight and I need to come right back here and tell me." She licked her dry lips and nodded. "If you're not back within the hour, I will come and burn down those woods to find you."

"That wouldn't do much good, Scorpius; you'd burn me down as well." I felt the corners of my lips turn, something I hadn't felt in ages. I kissed her and we parted. I walked into Professor Sinistra's classroom to find her staring out her window at the woods. She turned and the door closed behind me.

"The concept of death-" I began, walking towards her desk.

"The star exploded in the sky after it finished crossing through the zodiac." She answered. "It is inevitable that all of you will escape death. It's more than likely that a few of you will die because of this Alliance."

"But how, what would bring us to the point of trying to kill one another?" She swallowed and stared at me in the grimmest way. Her eyes had grown lighter since that morning.

"This is the one part of the prophecy I left out."

"Left out? How could you leave something this important out?"

"I didn't want it to come across the wrong person."

"The wrong person! Sam Finnigan is by far the _worst_ person to put into an alliance with me." I cried angrily. "What is it?"

"The Alliance will split once every name is known and half will take comfort in your trust. Half will take comfort in their power. The darker half will try to manipulate you, Scorpius, and they are going to rise against you. They want you to try and kill them-"

"I can't do that unless they kill someone else first." I said, connecting the pieces.

"If you fall victim of your own suspicions, you will be falling into their trap."

"And how do you know this? I demand to know how could possibly know _any_ of this!" I bellowed.

"It is in the stars, Scorpius!" She threw her hands back, pointing to her window at the sky.

"That doesn't mean shit to me." I told her through gritted teeth.

"I watched six planets shift away from Pluto, your ruling planet. It only makes sense."

"Which planets shifted?" I asked gravely. Again she swallowed and she looked down.

"Uranus of Aquarius, Mercury the ruler of the Virgo as well as the Gemini, Mars of Aries, the Moon of Cancer, and Venus of Libra."

"Wood, Finnigan, Evada Caldwell, Goyle, Catharina Ward, and Matthias Jordan." I said to myself. "And the rest stayed?" I asked. She nodded.

"Which would leave with you with Caine Nott, Meredith Thomas, Nike Shacklebolt, Francis de March, Helena Vane, and yourself." I tried to set all of the names up against one another but couldn't.

"I assume that Finnigan would take the lead on the opposite side."

"I would assume the same."

The door swung open and I whipped my head around to see Avery, terror looming in her wide eyes. She was out of breath.

"Nike and Evada." I looked back at Sinistra.

"They're both in the Alliance."

"I'm not following."

"The two are dueling." I told her. She looked back at Avery.

"From here on, it is your responsibility to make sure there are no deaths for the sake of your own soul, Scorpius." I gritted my teeth once more and then ran out behind Avery, down all the long and changing staircases, past all the hollering portraits, through the great doors of the school and down to the woods, rain thudding down on me every second. I took out my wand, preparing myself.

It wasn't long before I saw flashes of color past the layers of thick trees. I could hear Nike screaming her hexes at Evada. Evada and Sam had been family friends for many years and it was only right that she fight his battle against a girl.

I had promised myself that I wouldn't get involved in another duel after Sam Finnigan, but now, it had become my duty.

"Defodio!" Nike roared.

"REPELLO!" I bellowed, causing the purple sparks that had shot from her wand to explode upwards in a blast the knocked some back. Surely, if I hadn't been there, it would have been Evada that had exploded upward. The crown of dying leaves above us all burst into flames and branches came plummeting down. I grabbed Nike by the arm and tore her from her spot.

"Why would you do that?" She cried.

"If you kill her, I have to kill you." I told her as we started to run from the scene. There were screams coming from every direction it seemed, some sounding extremely painful.

* * *

Avery and I brought Nike to the dorm where everything was finally explained. She sat there in silence for a minute, looking at the fire before her.

"You expect me to believe that crock of shit?" I glanced at Avery who wasn't sure what to say.

"Nike if you were to go to the Hall of Prophecy right now you would be one of twelve able to pick up that prophecy." Nike had an ominous look in her bright eyes, the same one she had on the Quidditch pitch when she was facing off against Al.

"I could have killed the bitch, Scorpius. I know you hate her too; don't tell me you wouldn't have minded her death."

"I wouldn't have. But I would have minded yours, which is why I had to stop you."

"And how exactly would you have killed me?"

"I don't know. But it would have happened."

"If you think about it, it's more likely that it would have happened indirectly, by accident." Avery spoke up. "But further down the road, if you cross Scorpius the wrong way, his mistrust of you will get the better of him and he'll see no other choice than to kill you." Nike looked at my stoic bird. She was sitting up straight in her chair, her legs crossed, her hands resting on her lap.

"Why aren't you in the Zodiac?" She asked. "Caine has the same birthday, doesn't he?"

"I'm part Elf. It's impossible for me to be in any prophecy." Nike looked back and forth, trying to take all of it in.

"I expect you to lay low for the next couple of weeks while word gets around. Sam Finnigan already knows."

"How?" Nike asked. Avery shrugged.

"He approached me after dinner and wanted to know if he was really part of the Alliance."

"And you just told him?" Nike sounded bitter.

"What other choice did she have? He's a monster."

"Well that and the fact that he would have found out anyway. There's no strategy at this point, Nike." Avery told her. "There won't be until everyone finds out which is why you need to keep a low profile." Sorrow invaded Nike's expression; I knew she was fearful for her fate.


	7. Devon

Seven

Slowly but surely, mine, Sam Finnigan, and Nike Shacklebolt's fame grew in Hogwarts, rumors that I, in fact, was the new Dark Lord. When that word did get around, it seemed no one was brave enough to look me in the eye. Sam Finnigan had yet to confront me about anything and I began to realize that he wasn't going to. Some part of me believed that he wanted to see what my next move was. I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction, though.

The time came when Avery grew bored with our dorm one weekend. She wanted to venture back to the Potters, in Devon. We apparated once we were outside the school borders, Nike having promised us that she would make sure any duels between any of the Alliance would be split up.

* * *

Our feet met the earth again in what seemed to be the countryside of Devon. There were fields that spanned as far as I could see. It was raining lightly, the sky a mixture of gray and dull blue. She grabbed my hand and ran towards the only house visible for acres. It was large, three stories, brick with a quaint garden, full of hydrangea and rose bushes, surrounding it. Avery opened the heavy mahogany door which led us into a narrow hallway, two archways on either side and one at the end. I looked both ways to see a living room where the TV was turned on the news, and a study which looked like it was rarely used.

Avery wasted no time in heading to the kitchen in where we heard rustling about. Ginny Potter was behind the countertop reading out of a cookbook. In a bowl beside her was a brown, chocolaty mix.

"This can't be right," she spoke quietly to herself.

"Smells right to me." Avery said sweetly.

"Most food usually smells right to you, my dear." Ginny said, and looked up at the two of us. She smiled at Avery and embraced her. She grinned at me. "Scorpius Malfoy, the son of the darkest age magic has yet to offer us." I smirked.

"How are you, Mrs. Potter?"

"I'd be better if I knew how to cook properly." She said to me and laughed a little bit. "Sit down, I'll prepare the two of you something to eat." At that moment, we heard giggles come from upstairs. I looked at Avery who was looking at Ginny who had gone into the fridge to see what she could possibly concoct for the two of us.

"Is Teddy home?" Avery asked. I had forgotten that Teddy Lupin had lived with the Potters in his younger years. Ginny nodded.

"Yes, he's brought Victoire for the weekend. They've become engaged since you saw them last." Avery rolled her eyes.

"It's only taken them a hundred years."

"Well I believe that Victoire is in a motherly state and Teddy wanted to do the rightful thing. He had been seeing someone else but wouldn't talk about it." Ginny whispered, checking a plate of greens that was covered by saran wrap. She looked back quickly and pointed to the bowl of brownie mix. It began mixing on its own.

"And you don't care?" Avery asked, looking unnaturally concerned.

"About Victoire being pregnant? They're both grown; surely they know what's good for them. Why don't you go say hello." Avery did so and I followed her up the carpeted stairs into the hallway where pictures of the family were displayed on nearly every inch of the walls. Avery knocked lightly on one of the doors and it opened just slightly with a creak.

The two of them were lying on his bed looking up at the ceiling. There were images being created by a soft cloud of magic on the ceiling. The one they were looking at right then was a flamingo.

Teddy looked over at Avery and waved.

"Hello, dear girl!" Teddy exclaimed. Victoire looked over and smiled. "And who's that you've got behind you?" Avery stepped aside just slightly. "A Malfoy is that?" I nodded. His expression changed.

"I've been dating him for some time." Avery informed him. "He's got a good heart." She looked back at me and I could feel my cheeks tingle with blood.

"Yes, well is Ginny done with lunch? I'm starving!"

"She only just started, Ted. She'll call us down when she's ready I'm sure." Victoire pointed to the ceiling and the cloud had formed into some type of arachnid. Avery turned, pulling the door shut and stepped across the hall. She turned the knob and opened the door, stepping aside to let me in.

The room was painted a light shade of yellow-green, white curtains and linens accenting the room. There was only one window, but a very large one, at the end of the room looking out beyond the backyard. Her double bed was pressed up against the window, a closet on the left, a bureau on the right with a large mirror standing atop. The mirror had words inscribed on the top and I recognized the first word right away; _Erised. _

"You know what it is." She said. I looked at her and nodded.

"It fell into my grandparents' possession after Dumbledore died."

"Why?" I asked, looking at her. Her gaze was concentrated on the mirror.

"There are traces of Elvin magic in it. It seemed only fair that it be given back to my family." She said, her voice almost lost.

"What are you seeing?" I asked her.

"Us, in the future, in Wiltshire, a son." I looked down, remembering the feeling that I was overcome with while I stood in my father's study. "It's not what I always saw." She confessed, tearing her eyes away from her reflection. She took hold of only one of my fingers. "I pictured my life up in the mountains, lonely and cold. Tell me what you see." Her voice was so soft and sweet.

I stepped in front of the mirror as she sat down on the bed and looked up at me. The image came slowly. My parents were in the background with a toddler, my father chasing him and smiling. Avery was dancing with Dev, her head rested on his shoulder. They looked like adults, Avery in a fitted red dress that reached her knees, tall black heals. She had a wedding ring on but a great melancholy fog lay in her eyes. I wasn't sure how to feel seeing my reflection. It was so far from what I had expected.

"The same thing, only my parents are in the background." I sat down next to her, unable to look anymore. At the head of her room, across from her bed, was a bookshelf, containing a library of knowledge and imagination. She had told me before that imagination was something she didn't have much of. Being an Elf, she only saw the realistic parts of life. She wasn't a dreamer. It was ironic that she was given the mirror.

"You're lying to me." She said. I looked at her. "You saw your future with someone else." In fact, it was the opposite. I saw her future with my dearest friend.

"No it was us." I said, putting my hand on her knee. "Marry me, over holiday." She grinned, putting her hand on my cheek.

"You are a charmer."

"I'm serious, Avery. If something were to happen, I'd like to give you one of your dreams." Her grin faded slowly, her eyes sharpening. "In Wiltshire, just your family and mine."

"You're talking nonsense, my dear." I took her hand and put it down.

"I'm not joking."

"Maybe not but we would be the joke of the school." She said, getting up and going to her closet. She pulled out a red flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. She undressed and the sight of her bare body didn't faze me for once.

"We don't have to wear rings, at least on our fingers. We could wear them around a chain or something.

"Neither of us are even seventeen."

"Who cares?" She took her long hair and put it in a thick plait. "If you want it why waste the time, why wait until we're older?"

"It's not about that, Scorpius. If I chose to marry you, I'd be giving up all of my immortality which would make me full witch, rather than half Elf. I value my family name."

"But your grandparents gave you away at the first chance!" I told her. She looked at me and I knew that I had hit the wrong button. Her eyebrows became hard against her eyes, which grew dark.

"They didn't _give_ me away. They knew Harry could take better care of me, given my magical status. Harry _wanted_ me to come live with him and the rest of the Potters. It didn't make sense for a little girl to be living in the mountains." She took a moment, turned to her closet and sighed. "I can't believe you would say such a thing."

"I…I didn't mean to." I told her.

"Never mind it."

* * *

Again, my dreams were tainted with much more pleasing images than real life offered me. It was me, holding a son of my own, smiling as I walked up the path of the Wiltshire Manor my parents resided in. Avery was ahead of us, sporting a pregnant belly. The Potters were behind us, holding goods in their hands.

Atlas Alexander, I called my son. Avery had chosen his first name and I had chosen the middle name, trying to steer clear of any dark creature. But his name fit him. He was my world, the apple of my eye. Avery would name the second child, a girl, Iris Melaina. There were bets whether or not the little girl would come out with dark hair or not, seeing as how Atlas had come out with a head full of snow white hair.

I woke up, my heart racing. I turned over in the bed and saw Avery sleeping on her back, her head turned towards me, her hands above her head. I kissed her warm cheek gently.

I got out of the bed and put on a sweatshirt of Albus' that Avery had taken from his room the day before. I went downstairs and into the kitchen where I looked at the soft glow coming up over the hills. I opened the door as quietly as I could and left it. I walked out and down the deck staircase, past their rightful backyard and to the top of the nearest hill where I sat. It was only half past six. The sun seemed to bloom over the hills in an intoxicating manner, rippling the sky in all its brilliance. I thought to myself, why would Avery want to go to Wiltshire when she got to experience something like this every morning.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" I heard a strong voice ask. I looked up and saw Mr. Potter, his green eyes shimmering in the radiance.

"No thank you." He nodded.

"I left it in the house anyway. You're up rather early."

"Bad dream." I lied.

"You don't need to lie to me. I've been trained in Occlumency. My mind often wonders at night into the dreams of others. Luckily for me I've never come across something I didn't want to see."

I stood up and tried brushing the dew off of me. I then crossed my arms over my chest and continued watching the sunrise.

"You can have anything you want in the world, but you have to know what will get you to that point."

"As in…"

"As in resisting your urges to kill Sam Finnigan; keeping your mind clear of your darkest thoughts; keeping your eyes on the prize. I know you're afraid for your life; she is too."

"She doesn't show it."

"Isn't that why you love her?" I looked at him, the glare of the sun hitting his circular glasses. "Because she's sensible?"

"That's one of the reasons, yes." He smirked.

"Right; love can't be defined by one reason. Forgive me, Scorpius. I have to go to work." I nodded.

"Have a good day."

"You too. Don't be troubled too much."

I went back inside; back upstairs, back into her bed. She was still sleeping but she awoke when I got beneath the covers, her eyes puffy from dreaming.

"Marry me." I said.

* * *

"You don't feel you're rushing into things?" Ginny said at dinner that night. Harry hadn't said a word since Avery had mentioned it. She was nervous, something I had never seen from her.

"If something were to happen-"

"But you know that anything _will_ happen. Harry could have been killed dozens of times and we've raised five kids, two of them not our own but you understand."

"Wouldn't you have regretted parts of your life if Harry _had_ died?" Avery asked. Ginny went quiet, waiting for Harry to defend her point of view.

"Explain to them the dream you had, Scorpius." Harry requested. I swallowed, surprised that Harry would ask this of me. I looked back and forth from both women. Teddy and Victoire had gone to town for dinner. "It may make your case sound more logical to Ginny."

"It's really nothing-"

"No, tell us." Avery insisted.

"Fine." Harry said. "He was dreaming of bringing us all to Wiltshire, to his parents' manor, and in his arms was a young boy, hair the color of snow, and Avery was very pregnant with a girl. We were going to have dinner as a family at the Malfoys'." Both women were staring at Harry, wide eyed.

"So you agree then, that the two should get married at such a young age? Avery will have just turned 17."

"I don't agree, no. But if it is their wish, I will support them." He said firmly. "However, it'd be my own wish that the wedding stay fairly quiet, our immediate family as well as Scorpius'. No Teddy and Victoire; I wouldn't want to steal their thunder. I would pay for whatever it was that would make you happy; a dress, food, a photographer as we know that Scorpius can't take the pictures himself." Ginny's lips were parted, unbelieving what Harry was saying, though he said it in a dull tone, telling me that he really didn't approve, but saw where we were coming from.

"Harry…" Ginny said.

"You cannot blame them, Ginny." He looked at her. "You must understand the decision Avery has already made for herself in this." Ginny looked at Avery. "For an Elf to give up their immortality is giving up most of their power that they were born with."

"You don't think they're being blinded by love?" Ginny asked him.

"It's possible. But Scorpius is doing a much more honorable thing than Teddy is. Avery is my bird, but every bird will seek the day that the cage opens." Ginny looked as if she were going to break down and cry. She sighed, stood, and brought her plate to the kitchen. I could hear her weeping softly.

"She doesn't approve, but you have her best wishes." Harry said, standing. Avery looked down at her plate and I could tell she had lost her appetite. Ginny came back in the room, seconds later, her face wet with tears.

"I'm not crying because I don't approve of you, Scorpius. You need to know that this is one of my children, though. I could not bear the sight of seeing her in pain."

"I wouldn't dream of it." I said to her firmly.


	8. Achilles

Eight

Avery and I went back to school the next afternoon and I was summoned to McGonagall's office at once. Every face we passed with overcome with a look of mourning. When we reached the Headmistress' office, she was looking out one of the few windows. Her lips were turned down, her eyes red. She looked at me and her mouth opened as if to say something. She halted, though, going to her desk. Avery and I sat down before it.

"We've had a death in Administration." I locked my jaw, preparing for myself. "A professor you were becoming particularly close to." I shook my head looking down. I felt Avery's hand on my shoulder. "Professor Sinistra was killed last night and we've yet to find traces of the wand the curse came from."

I couldn't find any words and it was obvious that Avery couldn't either.

"We have uncovered a portfolio of maps in her living quarters. There were also papers among papers in the portfolio. The portfolio was labeled with your name on it." She summoned something from the corner of her office and a slim, large black case. There was a piece of masking tape on the front with my last name written in all capital letters. She opened the portfolio and took out a map of the stars. I shook my head.

"I don't know how to read any of this. Is there a replacement yet?" She nodded.

"Professor Melaina Achilles." I looked at Avery, feeling unwell about the name.

"I know her." Avery spoke. "She worked with me when Harry was adopting me."

"Worked with you how?" I asked. She shook her head.

"I can't remember. But I know the name."

Avery and I were racing back up the stairs once more, this time a portfolio in my hand. We entered the classroom through the open door and saw that it had been rearranged. A young woman was standing in front of the bookshelves, arranging the books by alphabetical order.

"And so I am visited by the modern Romeo and Juliet." She said, turning around after putting in the last book. "Scorpius Malfoy and Avery Potter; what a pair."

"What else do you know?" Avery asked harshly.

"I know of the Alliance that Mr. Malfoy is involved with and that's about it." The door shut behind us by Achilles' will. She was a small woman, thin but with an athletic build. She wore all black beneath her robes and she had mane that matched Avery's. Her skin was darker than Avery's and I expected her to come from Spain.

"You can trust me. I was given this job, not because of my skill with Astronomy, but rather my skill in the Dark Arts. McGonagall knew of the situation at hand and believed I would make a fine mentor for the both of you."

"The both of us?" Avery asked. My suspicion was growing.

"You don't seriously think you'll be able to cope with Scorpius' rage down the road, do you?" She asked. Avery shot her a look. "Don't get me wrong, I know you're a powerful and strong young woman, but just as Scorpius needs to trust himself, you need to trust him and that means whatever decision he makes, whether it be to kill someone or not." Avery's eyebrows came down hard against her eyes much like they had when I spoke of her grandparents.

"Do you know what the hell you're even talking about? If he kills someone then there's a good chance he gets killed as well."

"Right. I don't think you really understand the undermining story here, Miss Potter."

"My last name is Potter-Romanox." Avery corrected her.

"The way you are looking at it right now," Achilles said, "Is that if Scorpius can administrate some form of peace in the air, all will be well. But there are unspoken powers being brewed which cannot live past their debut or the world will surely be hindered useless. Someone will _have _to be killed in order for the world to get back to the way it was…before your time, before Harry Potter's time, _before_ Voldemort's time. I must ask you to leave now; I have things to do and the two of you are distracting me. If you still find the need to talk, come back at noon tomorrow." I looked at Avery who was disappointed in the new Astronomy teacher; in fact she appeared to be sickened by the woman.

* * *

"You alright?" I asked stepping out of the bathroom and into the common room; Avery was sitting before the fire, looking peeved by something. Her eyes darted towards me.

"Something isn't right about that woman."

"She's young; most teachers who are young aren't right."

"I'm talking about the fact that she had nothing to say about Sinistra's death. Why hasn't anyone told us of anything? Isn't there anyone they _suspect_ to have done the murder?"

"I'm sure it was Sam Finnigan." I told her. "I'm sure McGonagall knows bloody well it was him too."

"How could you be sure of that, though?"

"Think of it, Avery: he found out and we didn't know how. We left and the source of the prophecy is dead, murdered- _gone_." I turned to go back into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"She didn't really _help_ me, Scorpius," Avery said. "She did the paperwork for the adoption. She knows more than she's letting on." I passed the comment by as if it was Avery just being suspicious.


	9. The World Would Break in Two

Nine

It was December and everyone had gone home. Fueling on my rage for my father, I stayed at Hogwarts that year, telling my mother that I needed to study. I did study, as I had said, but I was distracted by something else for a good portion of the time…or _someone_ else. Avery had stayed that vacation, telling her own family that she would be taking special lessons from Slughorn. And she did just that, learning tricks of the mind with her Elf talents. He had, like in most years when he found one student fascinating, found her talents exceptionally mesmerizing.

I recall sitting on the edge of my bed reading a biography of a wizard from Russia who had done nothing all that exciting but set off an avalanche with the flick of his wand. It could have been done by anyone, I thought, and they would have had a book written about them. I was smoking a cigarette at the time, trying my hardest to keep my eyes open and not succumb to the throbbing of loneliness by falling asleep.

It had been weeks, maybe even months, since Avery had last talked to me. She was becoming fairly serious with one of Al's friends, Jacobi Summers. He was tall, built like a Muggle athlete, and had the personality to go along with it. He didn't really care about Avery; he just wanted her for the time being. When he realized she wasn't going to give it up to him, he would leave her, just like all the others.

We had gotten into an argument in front of the whole house in the common room after a loss against Hufflepuff. I blamed it on her of course, saying that she was too soft on the other players, Summers being one of them. She fought back, telling me I was being illogical and jealous.

"_Jealous! Jealous of him? What man would want to have you for a girlfriend? You're the biggest prat in the school, think you're better than everyone else because you're a Potter and because you're an-"_

"_STOP!" _Avery roared, fearing that I would reveal her secret. I would have, had she not looked so sad with me at the moment.

"_Don't talk to me anymore, Avery. Ever. Again. It's obvious you're better off."_

I groaned and dropped the book at my feet. It had been a long time since the company of a girl had visited me in my dorm. I had come to the point where I compared every girl to Avery and found her unworthy of my time. I had to have her, have _Avery_. In so many realms of life, it was unthinkable that a Malfoy could ever get with a Potter, and if that day had ever come, perhaps the world would break in two.

I yawned, rubbed the palms of my hands in my eyes. It was so late; the dawn had to be near. I had stayed up all that time of vacation, trying to get through many books and had succeeded when morning came. Many didn't know, didn't care to know, that I was in love with words, and if I could have had it my way, I would have been born into a Muggle family and attend Muggle University to get a degree in that of Literature or maybe even Philosophy to analyze books and find the deepest meaning in them.

"There's no smoking in the castle." I heard a light and tired voice. My head, as if it were on a swivel, snapped around to look at the entrance of the dorms. There she stood, in her pajamas, looking quite irritated by the fact that I was smoking. I was holding a grudge against her, though, and was unable to put out the cigarette.

"Go back to bed," I muttered. She sighed and looked around the messy, torn apart dorm. None of my fellow roommates had cared to put anything back in their trunks once they had taken most of their things out to pack away for the holiday. In an instant, things shifted in the room, clothes lifting off the ground and folding in midair, beds making themselves, and all contents of the trunks being put back in and the trunks being shut until their owners came back to open them and cause another mess.

"You don't have to act like you don't know me, Scorpius."

"_Do _I know you?" I questioned as she took a few steps into the center of the dorm. She was hurt by this.

"Yes, we used to know each other quite well until you grew green-" I shot a glare at her and she stopped herself. "Right. You didn't grow green, you became a monster." She turned and went down the stairs, back to her own part of the dormitory.

A day had passed and I had planted myself in one of the sofas of the common room. I was indulging in a new book that night, one my mother had sent me. It was a Muggle book, Astoria having the knowledge that I enjoyed those more than the ones the Wizarding world produced. It was called _The Great Gatsby_ and I was struck by it in so many different ways.

But I was thrown off when Avery came in with a letter in her hand, her face swollen with grief. She rushed up to her dorm. I forced myself to sit up and watch her as she hurried up the stairs. I could hear her soft sobs and for once did not feel like staying up late.

In the daytime when she was gone, I snuck up to her miraculously clean dorm and found her bed, the letter on the windowsill nearest. It was crumpled but still intact. I took it and unfolded it quickly.

_Avery,_

_I hope your holiday is going well. Your gift was lovely. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to you…I've had a lot of time to think about things. I'm not ready for this and I'm sorry to be having to tell you this in letterform. You are an underestimated girl, ready to take on the world, and I am not. We will talk more when I return from Lincolnshire._

_-Jacobi_

Disgusted with the letter I tore it and threw it out her window. She wouldn't miss it. She didn't need to.

* * *

She came back from a late night with Slughorn looking particularly weathered. I was three quarters of the way through my book, trying to interpret something. She managed to get herself up the stairs and I could hear her cough gently. It was my moment of truth to her, the only way to get it through her head that I wasn't going to screw her over.

I set my book down on the coffee table and went upstairs to her side of the dorm. She had undressed out of her jeans and button up shirt, now standing in nothing but her underwear. It was impossible to ignore, the feeling that was overcoming me. It was the only way to get over the grudge I had against her, to let her know how I felt about her.

In my mind, time had been wasting away since the day I had met her. It was obvious to me that we would end up together down the road. Why was it so necessary that we wait until the day when everyone stopped caring?

"Scorpius!" She cried, turning around, covering up her bare chest. I put a finger to her lips and gently pushed her up against the wall. Her cheeks had flooded with embarrassment, but she had no need to be embarrassed in front of me. I found every bit of her beautiful.

I swallowed tensely and held her neck in my hands. Around this time, her hair had been shorter, cleaner, and edgier. I preferred when her hair was grown out, but she was stunning either way. I felt her collarbone against the side of my hands and I ached to lower them, to kiss her there.

I felt my nose against hers and looked into her river stone green eyes. She gasped quietly and then bit her lip as she looked down. She let her arms and hands free from her chest and grabbed a hold of the collar of my shirt, becoming needier by the second. My hands drifted down to the dips of her waist, touching her soft skin.

"If you've got something to say…" She trailed off, touching my jaw with just the tips of her fingers. She blinked and looked up, licking her lips. We weren't kissing, but my adrenaline was rushing, waiting for the perfect second to do so.

"I'd be good to you." I whispered to her. "I'd wait for years if that's what you wanted." And she knew what I meant; she knew that I would wait for her to give her most valued part of herself to me, unlike Jacobi, or any other guy in the school. Her eyes filled with want, they were sorry and big.

She grew more comfortable and I could feel the palms of her hands against my cheeks. I pressed my fingertips into her body and losing control, I picked her up, grabbing her by the thighs and she moaned at once, wrapping her strong calves around my waist. Again I pressed her up against the wall, and this time I kissed her collarbone, her hands tousling my hair.

"Wait," She stopped me and I looked up at her. "What about our families? This will never work."

"Why are you worrying so much about it?" I asked her. I let her down, feeling defeated by her question. I let go of her and backed away, blinking. She was blinking as well and now looked upset. "I only want _you_, Avery. I don't want any of…this." I threw my hands up in the air, gesturing about Hogwarts.

"I know but-"

"If you're worried about all the rest of it maybe we should just _wait_." I said to her. I turned around, feeling my heart breaking all over again. I needed a cigarette.

"Scorpius…" I heard her say; she was pleading with me, asking me not to be so sensitive about things. I couldn't help it.

I then felt her hand grab me by the wrist and turn me around. I couldn't feel tall around her; I couldn't look down at her the way a man should be able to look down at his woman. Our eyes met each other by general view, not by habit. She was my equal in life, this was certain.

She kissed me for the first time, putting her hand on the back of my neck and pulling me in forcefully. It was the first time I had experienced the feeling of kissing an Elf, so serene, so cool and objected. I wondered at that point if the other boys she had kissed had felt the same way, as if their life was coming to one intervening moment where everything else didn't make sense, but this one thing…this one thing that made complete sense, washing over me like some serum of new life. Everything in my body was invigorated and my veins felt thick and pulsing, like ice was flowing through them, melting slowly, and giving me an intoxicating chill.

The hurricane had been set into motion.


	10. Finding the Resurrection Stone

Ten

"Caine Nott," I said to myself, looking into the flames of the fire. Avery was sitting in her chair, Nike opposite of her.

"Why not de Marche?" Nike asked.

"De Marche hasn't done anything worth recognizing lately." I told her.

"And Nott has?" Avery questioned me. I lifted my eyes from the blaze and looked at her. I nodded. "Like what?"

"Well it wasn't really him, but I expect him to act outright soon enough. His father lost his job at the Ministry, accused of harassing one of his coworkers."

"How do you know about this?" Nike asked me. I looked at her.

"My father sent me a letter about it. He knows most of what goes on in the Ministry."

"Your father is helping you now?" Nike asked, stunned and unbelieving. I nodded. "Strange the way things work out…"

"That's not the point." Avery said firmly. We both looked at her as she sat up in her chair. "Like we said…we need you to get close to him."

"I'm still with Harper-"

"No one knows that." Avery told her. "You're doing this for the greater good anyway."

"You can't seriously expect me to-"

"Yes we can, Nike." I said. "I need to know what Nott has up his sleeve. The prophecy states that all of us have a power that has never been seen before. I need to know his. He doesn't trust me-"

"Why not?" Nike asked, picking up that there was a deeper connection between Nott and I. I looked at both Avery and Nike, Avery who was now questioning the reason as well.

"You slept with his sister." Avery said quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't…_sleep_ with her." Nike and Avery looked at each other.

"So you fooled around with her, what's the difference?" Nike asked.

"There is no difference." I said becoming irritated. "Look, he walked in on us and hates me ever since. It's not every day one of your friends gets with your older sister."

"You were his friend before that; you should know his power." Avery said, getting up and walking over to the counter to refill her cup of coffee.

"I was his friend two years ago, Ave. He could have developed something else-"

"Something else? So you have an idea of what I'm supposed to be looking for?" Nike asked. I looked at her gravely and nodded. "Well don't leave me in the dark, Scorpius, tell me."

"It's dangerous-"

"I could have told you that much." Avery said, cutting him off. I was beginning to realize how annoying it was to be around more than one girl at a time, the main reason I didn't like to double date with Avery as she so wished to do.

"Could you let me talk?" I said, feeling outraged by both of them. Avery smirked and turned back towards the counter. I sighed heavily and regained myself. "He was always…always messing around with rocks." Nike glanced at Avery, humor growing in her eyes. "Look I know it sounds ridiculous but don't either of you recall the Resurrection Stone?"

"Of course; Harry always tells me it's been lost in the Forbidden Forest." Avery says. "And it has. There is, in no possible way, any means of finding it."

"That's not right." Nike said, tilting her head. "If you know where the object is, you can summon it. If Nott knows that your father lost it in the woods, he has just as good a shot of finding it as any of us." I looked back at Avery who was pondering the thought. "How many people did your father tell?"

"About losing the stone? Not many, but there is speculation about it." Avery told her. I looked back at Nike.

"What was he doing with the stones?"

"Casting spells on them, cursing them sometimes. He wouldn't tell me what exactly what he was doing, maybe because I just didn't care enough to ask." Nike sighed and looked down at her gray pleated skirt, smoothing it out. She then tightened her tie, clearly thinking of her first action.

"It would be smart to find that stone before he does." Nike said, looking up. "Until then, I've got business to attend to. Come find me when you have the stone." She stood, cleared her throat and left our dorm. I didn't know how she planned on becoming close with Nott, but I knew that if she chose to do it in a romantic way, she would succeed with ease.

I felt Avery's arms wrap around my shoulders and her lips on the back of my neck.

"We've still got half an hour until lunch is over." She cooed. I grinned, wanting to take part in her suggestive activities.

"You know we have to go find that stone." I told her. She sighed and walked towards the door.

"Specifically what I was implying my dear." She lied to me. I smirked and followed her out of the school and into the Forbidden Forest which was becoming more and more ragged all the time, trees constantly being blown over by hexes and curses. It was getting colder by the day and I wondered how Avery was still blowing off wearing her school tights.

We ventured into the deepest parts of the woods and stood around for a minute, questioning which one of us wanted to try and summon the thing. I felt the vague sense that we were being watched, but also that we were on the brink of disappointment by our stupidity and lack of knowledge of the stone.

"Accio Resurrection Stone." I said. Nothing happened. I sighed, feeling conquered by the Forest. I turned.

"Wait." Avery said quietly. There was a rustling but still nothing came to us. I looked back at her. She was holding out her hands to the earth, a most promising and determined look on her face. And it seemed that after a moment's time, the earth below us thumped. Avery trembled and I stumbled back, managing to hold my balance.

And then, out of nowhere, something hit me dead on in the spine. I grunted and fell forward. Avery took her wand out and pointed it past me. I looked up and saw her jaw clenched.

"You have no right being in these woods." She said.

"And you do? Isn't this forest…_forbidden_?" A cool voice said behind us. I raised my head to look back but felt Avery's foot against the back of my neck.

"These are my grounds. I'm advising you to leave."

"Who says they're _your_ grounds? Don't you belong up in the mountains?"

"Wizards stole these grounds from the Elves. The oldest map has my namesake along these lines." Avery said, warning the person behind us. I heard them laugh and looked up at Avery again. "Go back to Greece." She said. _Greece_, I thought to myself. The only magical occupants of Greece were deadly.

"Let me see the being on the ground first."

"What for?" Avery asked through clenched teeth.

"Well, he is the Scorpion King, is he not?"

"He doesn't need to see _you_." Again, I heard the person laugh.

"Surely he will seek my kind for help and I need to determine if he is worthy." Avery waivered on the thought.

"This is a war between wizards and witches, nothing else." Again I raised my head and looked back as quickly as I could before feeling Avery's foot against my temple. I gasped, catching a glimpse of the creature she was talking to. It was large, a body twice my size, with a stinger much like a Scorpion's that reached high and far over its head. The face frightened me the most however; it was the face of a man with a mane surrounding its features.

"We own that creature, Miss Romanox." Avery said nothing and I felt my chest thundering against the ground. "He is our descendent, whether you like that or not."

"He is a wizard. He's not an animal."

"Not to you, maybe. Let him rise or I'll kill the both of you right now."

"The prophecy makes it impossible for you to kill him."

"Then I'll kill you and you know I can do that." Again, Avery said nothing. "GET UP!" He roared. Avery lifted her foot from me and I sprang to my feet, turning around to face the beast in which I had only seen drawings of. He laughed a most evil laugh, one that echoed and reverberated off the trees. I wondered if anyone had heard the Manticore. I felt Avery grab my forearm as I took out my wand.

"Were you looking for that, my dear wizard?" The Manticore asked me and nodded towards a stone on the ground. It was the same thing that had hit me in the back. "Surely you will not find any use out of it."

"No, I won't. I have no one I wish to see that has died." I told him. "But others might."

"How did you find it?" The Manticore glared at Avery.

"I think you should muzzle your bitch, Wizard." I looked at Avery, telling her to keep quiet.

"How did you find it?" I repeated. The beast looked at me.

"I can find anything in the world I so please. If the thought comes upon me, I know exactly where to look and the easiest way to get to it." The beast told us. "You beings of magical power underestimate the power of beasts."

"I don't want your help." I said quietly. The Manticore looked at Avery and licked his lips. I pushed Avery behind me.

"You will change your mind, Wizard. And then you will have to resort to the Chimaeras I'm sure I will see you again, Miss Romanox. Until then, I suggest you go back to your land in the mountains where you belong. Such a beast shouldn't reveal its face in daylight." The Manticore turned and with a great roar, disapparated into nothingness.

Immediately, I grabbed the stone and looked back at Avery.

"You know that creature?" I asked her. Avery looked away, annoyed with the question.

"His name is Argus the Crude. He saved my mother centuries ago when she was battling Chimaeras in the Mediterranean. He thinks he has a right to me, that I have some sort of debt to him."

"Why don't we want his help?" I asked, feeling betrayed almost.

"You can't trust a beast, Scorpius. They're out for blood and for their own hunger, not for your trust."

"He called you a beast." I said. She stared at me. "You're just an Elf, are you not?" She was at a loss for words once more. I tilted my head, feeling bewildered.

"It is rumored that my father was something else, Scorpius. Another reason I cannot be part of the Alliance." I swallowed nervously and blinked.

"So what are you?"

"I _am_ an Elf." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"But only part." I licked my dry lips, narrowing my eyes on her. "What else are you?" She hesitated and looked around, then threw her arms up in the air.

"Part Abraxus." I shook my head.

"I don't know what that is."

"They're rare, very rare beings from the North."

"And what exactly makes them a beast?"

"We feed off…" She began to cry. "Off of newborn blood." I felt revolted and my insides began curling instantly. "It's why he left, why he couldn't be around me." I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth. I turned shaking my head, recalling that Avery had to leave the school at night, at least twice a month. She told me she was going back to the Potters but it occurred to me that she was probably venturing up north.

"Scorpius…" She cried quietly. I turned back around. "They're pure creatures but are banished from populated regions. They cannot help it." I shook my head again and swallowed, pulling my hand away from my mouth.

"You expected me to give you a child, Avery." I said, horrified. "A child you would want to _feed_ off of. You're almost a vampire."

"But I'm not, Scorpius! An Abraxus is different. They're pure-"

"You keep saying that but how can one be pure when they, when they…KILL children to survive!" I yelled. Her bottom lip trembled. "What's it worth anymore! I was doing all of this for _you_ and come to find out you can't even bear a child!"

"I can, Scorpius! I only need it-"

"What, twice a month? You think I haven't figured it out?" I asked becoming bitter. She said nothing. "This is the real reason Harry took you in, isn't it? None of your siblings know, do they? Christ, Avery; Ginny Potter doesn't even know! She wouldn't have had Victoire over if she knew, would she?"

"You're making it out to be something different, Scorpius!" She pleaded.

"No I'm not. You _are_ a beast, Avery. That's why your grandparents sent you away because they didn't know how to care for you." Tears filled my own eyes. "You should be in a cage." I turned around and walked away from the crying girl, the girl I no longer knew how to love.

* * *

I went to Nike in her Ravenclaw dorms and threw the stone down on the table. She could tell something was wrong.

"How did it go today?" I asked, trying to ignore the elephant in the room. She narrowed her eyes on me.

"Fine. I have a date for Friday night. Keep it a secret, though; Harper doesn't need to find out. Scorpius, what's wrong?" I looked down at her as I paced back and forth. I placed my hands on either of the armrests and looked into her eyes.

"I can't stay in my dorm tonight." She blinked at me.

Nike took me to the Shrieking Shack and refurbished one of the rooms in only a minute. She gave it a queen bed, a bookshelf, new wallpaper, carpet, curtains, a small lamp, and a desk. I still hadn't told her what was going on, though she persisted in asking me.

"Where's Avery?" She asked as I sat down on the edge of the bed. She stood, her arms crossed over her chest. "Why aren't you in her bed tonight?" I looked up at her and ran my hands through my hair, trying my hardest not to pull all of it out.

"She's lied to me."

"About what?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm giving up my head boy post to Sam Finnigan tomorrow."

"You can't do that, Scorpius." Nike said uncrossing her arms. She was fuming. "If you give up your post Sam Finnigan will _kill_ Avery."

"She can't be killed; she's an Elf."

"Only half from what I've heard. There's still a chance that she could be killed."

"She can only be killed by a beast. No wizard could harm her with the power she has." Then I realized that Nike knew about Avery's blood-status. "How did you know?"

"My father is the Minister of Magic."

"Right…"

"Is that why you're angry? Because you just found out?"

"No, I've known. It's something else. Something worse." Nike shook her head, clenching her jaw. She knew I wouldn't tell her what it was. I was too faithful to Avery in that sense. She pointed towards the desk and summoned a record player that was playing Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable."

"This…this of all music choices?" I asked her.

"It calms me down." I scoffed and looked around the room. It was dark with the small light source but it made me tired enough, though I knew I wasn't going to sleep.

"You should go talk to Avery." I said to her.

"She doesn't trust me, just as Nott doesn't trust you. She knows we slept together."

"It was one time. It was a long time ago anyway."

"You could say the same about your situation with Nott but you're not speaking with him. It's uncomfortable either way, Scorpius." I stared at her. She sighed and sat down next to me. "You are one of the most stubborn people I've ever met."

"I'm not stubborn. I just have good timing." She smirked and looked at me. I looked at her too.

"You have horrible timing and you know it."

"How do I have horrible timing?"

"Don't question my opinion. I'm always right." She said with a smile. I beamed at her and then remembered the awful song playing in the background. I turned my wand towards it and blew up the record. Nike yelped and then laughed.

"Sorry, Nat." I said. I felt Nike's hand on the back of my neck, her thumb stroking the bones. I looked at her, wishing I had a cigarette to calm my nerves. She leaned in slowly and wavered for a moment, our lips centimeters apart. I licked my lips and watched hers. She wasn't foreign to me and there wasn't a rush, but it was a more so a comfort to me.

She kissed me, putting her other hand on the side of my neck and we stayed there for a second, trying to decide if it was right or wrong. Then I decided it didn't matter; I couldn't bear children with a beast. I kissed her back and before I knew it, I was making love once more to Nike Shacklebolt, listening to her soft moans and breathing into her ear.

It was only until morning that I felt the overwhelming yet dull throbbing of lament.


	11. The Sea Goat and the Archer

Eleven

I sat in the Great Hall the next morning, avoiding all of my classes. Nike had left me in the bed early that morning. She hadn't said anything but I had heard her begin to cry. I had done so many things wrong in the past twenty four hours that I could not bear the thought of looking at Avery, fear that she would find out about Nike.

There was clapping at the doors of the Great Hall. I looked and saw Sam Finnigan.

"Well, what've we got here? A lonely Malfoy without any of his accomplices." He walked over and sat across from me. "That is to say, outside of the Zodiac Alliance."

"You killed Sinistra." I said quietly, forbidding myself to wring his neck.

"So what if I did?"

"You wanted her to stop feeding information to me." Finnigan laughed and slammed his fist down on the table. I winced.

"You're goddamn right I did. I know you think you have control over this situation, but it won't last. I've got things to do that you cannot get in the way of, Malfoy." I stared at him; he looked so much like his father.

"You're nothing like your father." I told him. "You're not brave at all."

"HA!" Finnigan howled. "And he was? Malfoy take a look at your own father before you start comparing-"

"I did. I've forgiven Draco. A son could never forgive you, though. You are as dark as they come and I'd sooner have you fed to a hag than be in any alliance of mine." Finnigan smiled and shook his head.

"When are you going to realize I don't a flying fuck what you'd prefer, Malfoy? I have things to do; none of them involve creating a friendship with you." He stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, the doors slamming behind him.

I returned back to my dorm that night. The place was the cleanest I had seen it since Avery and I had moved in. She didn't come back until late that night and when she did, she didn't look at me, just went straight to her room. I had refused to go to dinner, telling McGonagall that I wasn't able to eat for some reason or another.

I sat up, held my chin against my closed fist, my elbows against my knees. If anything could have changed my mind about Avery, it would have been to have sex with another woman. I valued Nike's company, but I wasn't in love with her like I was with Avery. The loneliness of it all reflected on me like a magnifying glass to an ant on a sunny day.

I slept in my own bed that night.

* * *

The days passed on and I soon found myself in Hogsmeade with Dev on Halloween. We were drinking butterbeers. Dacia was there as well, crying to us about how Caine Nott had denied her many advances. I knew why, though. He was falling for Nike and it was apparent she was falling for him, telling Harper that it just wasn't going to work out. I looked at Dev who was trying his hardest not to laugh at his depressed whore of a sister.

"Look, Dasch, it's not your fault." I said to her. "You should go to Salem for Holiday; I heard there are a lot of nice guys in America." Dev burst out laughing and Dacia shot him a look. I had sincerely been trying to cheer her up as she was putting a severe damper on our night.

"Dev shut up!" She yelled, standing up.

"Oh go to hell, Dacia. It's your fault you can't find a man. You brought it upon yourself." Dev said with laughter. I resisted laughing as well. Dacia wiped her eyes.

"You know what, maybe if you had just been nice to me all these years I wouldn't be like this!" She walked away from the table. Dev laughed even harder.

"God bless her withered soul." Dev said as she walked out of the bar. I smiled and gulped the rest of my butterbeer. "So tell me; why aren't you out of with Avery on this fine night." I shook my head and looked down as a butterbeer floated over to me and set down in front of me, the glasses contents floating and swirling around.

"We broke up a couple weeks ago."

"Why? I thought you were meant to be."

"It just wasn't working. I have things that needed to be tended to, and she had her own…_things_." Dev rolled his eyes.

"You're still in love with her. Where is she tonight?"

"I would imagine at the Gryffindor party with Albus and James."

"Where are they having that? In the tower?" I shook my head.

"No, the Shrieking Shack tonight."

"Well come on, let's go." Dev said, leaving money on the table for the both of us.

"We shouldn't. It's a Gryffindor party."

"Ah, she's not in Gryffindor is she?" I followed him out into the cold and then to the Shrieking Shack where loud music was blaring. I stopped for a moment, looking up at the room where I had spent the night with Nike. I winced at the thought and kept following Dev.

Inside, tons of members from every house lingered, except that of Slytherin. Dev wasted no time in associating himself with a group of Ravenclaw girls. I stalked into the kitchen where Hufflepuff girls were discussing their choice of boys for the night. Meredith Thomas was among them and she was eyeing me, heavily, but not in the way that the others were. I grabbed a drink from one of the four bins which were all filled with alcoholic drinks. I then walked out and found myself in what must have been the dining room at one point. Avery was there, talking to Jackson Wood from Gryffindor. He looked much like his father but was on the rebellious side, giving many of the professors a run for their money.

I narrowed my eyes at the scene, finding Avery smiling at him as he whispered. I cleared my throat, jealousy infesting my bones. Just then, Nike walked in the room with Caine behind her. She shot Avery an instant glare. I laughed and looked at Nike and Caine.

"Well, where are the other eight!" I shouted with a laugh at the end. Avery and Jackson looked over, the latter confused as well as Caine. Nike looked nervous; Avery looked annoyed.

"Don't do this, Scorpius." Nike whispered at me. "Don't make a fool of yourself." She nearly mouthed the last part, just barely audible.

"What're you doing here, Malfoy?" Jackson asked. "Invite only."

"I invited him and if you were smart, you'd stay away from her." Nike warned Jackson. Avery was beginning to get pissed off with Nike, their eyes locking from across the room.

"What would you do if I didn't, Shacklebolt?" Jackson countered. Nike took her wand from her long coat and pointed it at him.

"I won't kill you; I'm not allowed. But you'd be begging for it afterwards."

"Yeah? Because I'd turn my wand on you in a second's time…for good." Jackson said. Caine pulled out his own wand. I witnessed Avery looking down, suddenly becoming ashamed of the scene she had created.

"Are you forgetting who the Minister of Magic is?" Caine asked Jackson.

"No; does he fight his daughter's battles?"

"He could imprison you for the rest of your life if I even mentioned the idea." Nike cautioned. Avery looked at me.

"Look what you've gone and caused." Avery spoke and her words hit me like a thousand knives that had just been sharpened.

"I hardly think he's caused anything." A new voice came. I looked to the doorway opposite of Nike. "You're the one instigating the situation by allowing yourself to become prey to Jackson Wood." It was Meredith Thomas. She had always had a knack for coming to the underdog's rescue. Shortly after her arrival to the scene came Albus Potter. _Outstanding,_ I thought to myself.

But Albus pulled such a move that I wouldn't have recognized his actions if I hadn't seen him enter the room. He walked over to Jackson Wood and grabbed him by the collar, slamming him hard against the wall behind him. Avery stepped back, astonished.

"I advise you to back away from my sister, Jackson. She's not up for the taking."

"Oh yes I am, Al." Avery said bitterly.

"Not under my watch you aren't." Albus warned her, keeping his dark eyes on his classmate. "Wood is ten times the filth Malfoy could ever be." Albus gave Jackson one last shove into the wall before letting him go and turning to Avery. I looked at Nike and then found myself racing out of the house.

I made it halfway back to Hogwarts before I heard my name being called out into the dark night.

"Malfoy!" It was a low and thunderous voice that rocked me. "HEY!" I stopped and looked back, just reaching the Hogwarts gates. Albus Potter had followed me back to Hogwarts. "I stand up for you and you run away like a child!" He bellowed.

"I wasn't running away." I told him.

"Not even appreciative of what I've done for you back there?"

"I am. But the situation is bigger than that." We were face to face the next moment, Albus looking infuriated. He didn't smell of alcohol, though.

"You're going to tell me the situation right now then." He demanded. I hesitated, unsure where he was coming from. "I know about the Zodiac and the rumor is that you are at the head of it."

"I am. Nike Shacklebolt, Caine Nott, Meredith Thomas, Wood, Finnigan…they're all a part of it and they all know."

"But Avery isn't?" I nodded. "So why are you broken up with her then?"

"It's complicated. There's something about her that you don't know…not even your mother knows. And no one can know. I'm only telling you because-"

"You trust me to take care of her." I nodded.

"Have you ever heard of an Abraxus?" He thought for a moment.

"The term sounds familiar but I can't put a finger to it."

"They're rare beings I guess. Long story short, Avery is half of one, her father being full. She has to leave-"

"Twice a month to go up north." I nodded.

"She feeds off of newborn blood when she's away." Albus cringed at the sound.

"And you're sure of this?" I nodded.

"She told me so herself. I freaked out-"

"As would most men. Can't bring a child into this world if you're just going to want to kill them."

"Right. She hasn't talked to me since then." Albus looked like he was thinking.

"If she won't help I will. I know Sam's been up to something; hasn't been right since he was missing." He told me quietly. I looked past him, figures catching my eye as they moved forward.

"Someone's coming." I told him. He turned around taking out his wand. As the figures came closer, it was apparent that it was two girls and a boy; Nike, Meredith, and Caine.

"You have to tell her what's going on…both of them!" Nike shouted.

We rushed back to the school, up the stairs and to Albus' dorm. His roommate was at the party thankfully, and we knew if we had dared to step foot in my dorm, there would be a good chance that Avery would walk in and cause an uncomfortable situation. We sat down, Albus in one of the living chairs, myself in the opposite, and the others on the sofa. Albus had pushed off all of the things on the coffee table and gave me parchment as well as an enchanted quill.

"First off, how did you find out?" I asked Meredith. The quill lifted off the table and began scribbling onto the parchment in my handwriting. Meredith watched it before she began.

"There have been rumors about it ever since the first party in the woods, that there were twelve students who were part of something bigger. I knew that it was likely that you would have something to do with it-"

"So your father doesn't know about it then?" She shook her head. "Go on."

"I knew that you and Sam would play major roles in it. And then I started hearing about Nike, that she was involved. And then I knew once she became involved with Caine that he had to be in the Alliance as well. Somehow I knew I was in it too. I just knew." I nodded.

"You are. I need to know what you can do."

"As far as new power?" Albus asked. Again I nodded. We all concentrated on Meredith as she looked around the room for an example. A vase on top of the fireplace mantel caught her attention. It began to shake on top of the mantel and then it stopped. There was a hissing sound coming from within and then a mass amount of scorpions came crawling out the top and down the sides. When they reached the floor, all of us found ourselves standing on top of the furniture, panicking as we looked down at the monsters.

"Is that all?" I asked, but my question was answered in seconds. A growth in the corners of the room caught my eye; vines were springing where the floor met the walls and from behind the portraits. Within minutes, the room was a jungle, arachnids of all types exploding out of orifices of the room.

"I can make it happen with most small animals but lately it's only been scorpions. That's how I knew."

"Can you make it go away?" Albus asked, eyeing the scorpion that was making its way along the arm of his chair. The arachnids began crawling back to where they came from and the growth went back into the corners of the room.

"Remind me again what you are in the Zodiac, Meredith?" I asked, all of us sitting back down, but checking to make sure none of the critters had gotten left behind.

"Sagittarius, the Archer."

"And I assume you're skilled in the Defense Against the Dark Arts then?"

"Quite so." She replied. "I have a feeling, though, that what I can do now, with the scorpions, will grow." I nodded.

"I think so too."

"What about you, Caine? What can you do?" Albus asked. Caine stood and dug deep into his pockets. As I imagined he would, he pulled out all different stones, including the Resurrection Stone. He poured them onto the table and looked at both Albus and I. Albus was confused.

"What are they?"

"One of them is a Deathly Hallow that was once in your father's possession. The others all have different purposes but they all involve a certain aspect of life. This one," He said picking up a small, flat, and reddish stone. "I crafted to bring factual knowledge into any subject one needs to know. And this one," He held up another stone, this time square and purple. "Can be given to master any skill you seek." He grabbed a third stone, dark gray and circular. "This is possibly the most powerful of them. You could transform yourself into any being you wish."

"Impossible." Albus said, stunned.

"It's not. I've tried it. Once. I wouldn't try it ever again." Albus and I looked at each other. "I've crafted twelve stones, each representing the phrase of a Zodiac sign. Scorpius, yours would be the stone of Desire, the one I just showed you. The purple, is the stone of Knowing for the Aquarius, and the red one is the stone of Seeking for Sagittarius."

"What's mine?" Nike asked. Caine looked at her.

"Taurus," I reminded Nott.

"The stone of Encompassing," He said and picked up an arrowhead shaped stone. "Naturally, one feels like they can trust you." Nike glanced at me. "The stone allows one to be trusted by anyone, gaining any secret they desire."

"So you didn't actually make the stones for the Zodiac to use them." Albus said. Caine shook his head.

"I made them for anyone to possess a quality they don't have that one of the other Zodiac characters has. Nike could use the stone of Desire."

"But surely Scorpius can't shape shift." Albus said.

"Not physically, no. This is what makes the stone of Desire the most powerful, as well as the most dangerous. All twelve of the stones are dangerous and very specific. One would have to use them to understand."

"One of them can surely give you yes or no answers then?" I asked. Nott looked back at me and nodded.

"The stone of Curiosity, representing the Gemini."

"What kind of questions does it answer?" Albus asked.

"Any factual questions, anything that has a _certain_ answer."

"So you couldn't ask it how this Alliance will end up." I said. Caine shook his head.

"I'm not that advanced in Divination or Astronomy, whichever subject you see fit for this situation." I nodded.

"Can I see the stone?" He picked up a stone which was engraved with two lines running parallel to each other.

_Where is Avery?_ I questioned. The answer came to me with no hesitation. I just knew that she was in her bed, tossing and turning. I ached to go to her. I was slowly becoming overwhelmed with all the information Nott was feeding me. I was tired; I needed rest.

"And you?" Albus said, nodding towards Nike. "I assume you have your own power."

"Nike specializes in fire." I said, with no fuel to be there anymore.

"Anyone can specialize in that." Albus said. I looked up from the stone.

"Nike could set the world ablaze if it barely crossed her mind." I told him. "I have to go." I rose and set the stone down. I grabbed the pages of parchment, all with new information scribed on them, and left the room without another word. I knew they were puzzled.

I went back to my dorm and for the first time in many weeks, I had a headache.

I sat down on the couch and the plates slowly came whirring out. I extinguished the fire, fearing Nike might be looking through the flames at me. Somehow I felt that she could do that. I extinguished the rest of the lights on in the dorm and proceeded to lie down. My head felt as if it might explode with all the new things I had learned.

I laid there for hours, listening to the soft song that the plates were playing for me. I dozed off a couple times but could not stay asleep. It was in the early morning when I felt her crawl on top of me, lay her head on my chest, and I stroked her hair, which I could now feel had been cut.

Her face felt swollen and moist with tears as I rested my palm against her warm cheek. She sniffed as I ran my fingers through her now shoulder length hair. As we laid there, I questioned what my own power was. I had nothing special to offer the Alliance. I was skilled in the Dark Arts, but they were as well. They all had something significant they could fight the world with. I was just a brood.

Avery stopped my hand from going through her hair and she wrapped my arm around her back.

"I've never been so in love." I told her.

"I told them." She whispered lifting her head off of my chest. She was crying harder now. She didn't have to go into any further detail. I knew what she meant. She had told the rest of the Alliance that they were a part of the prophecy and she had done so out of demoralizing anger. The two of us sat up and I pinched the bridge of my nose, my eyes burning.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. I put my hands over my face and let out a heaving exhale. I nodded for the last time that night.

"It'll all be okay, Ave." I said, pulling my face away from my hands and looking at her. "Tell me it will all be okay." She put her hands on my cheeks and nodded with me.

"It will all be okay." She told me; she _lied_ to me. She kissed me and I kissed her back. I knew that the next day would be the dawn of the war. I embraced her for that night.


	12. The Twins

Twelve

I woke up the next morning next to Avery. We had pulled all of our blankets and pillows into the middle of the common room and slept there for the night, the plates softly whirring above us. But I woke up to a banging on the door. Avery sat up with a start and ran to the door.

"Jesus Christ, you scared me half to death." I sent the plates back to their place in the cabinet and stood up to see Nike and Caine.

"Why the FUCK would you tell the rest of them, Avery?" Nike bellowed. Shock filled Avery's eyes. "You sold us out before we could get a head start-"

"Nike, stop!" I commanded. She did so like an obedient dog.

"Everyone in the school knows now." Caine said to me. "I've had several professors come up to me and threaten search my dorm. I expect they'll be by here soon enough."

"We haven't got anything to hide!" Avery cried.

"No, but Caine could likely be expelled for what he has in his pockets." I informed her. "What are you going to do with them?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I couldn't be sure. I'm too afraid of losing them but I don't trust any place I know of." I scratched my head, thinking as hard as I could for a place to hide the stones. I was sure that Wiltshire would be searched by the Ministry, maybe even the Potter household.

"Throw them in the lake." I said.

"What?" Caine cried, finding the idea outrageous. "I've spent a year making these and for what? To throw them into the lake?"

"Or to be seized and destroyed by the Ministry. They aren't going to search the lake."

"What about the Mermaids, Scorpius?" Nike asked me through clenched teeth. There was more banging on the door.

"Malfoy, Romanox!" It was the voice of an administrative person. I looked at Caine, panicked. I ran to the window and opened it up letting a cold draft into the room.

"Leave them or lose them." I whispered. Caine groaned and ran to the window, casting all the stones into the lake far below us. The door blew open and Achilles as well as the Potions master, Adrian Pucey, stepped in.

"Throwing something out the window?" Pucey asked us and crossed the room to look out the window He slammed it shut and looked at the four of us, then at the bed on the floor.

"None of you will leave this room until everything has been searched." Achilles informed us. Pucey went into the bathroom and started taking out the contents of the cabinets and searched in every crevice for any evidence of dark magic. Achilles went to Avery's room.

"Right, take off your robes, empty your pockets…in fact, you might as well strip down to your last layer." Pucey said from the bathroom. Avery became uncomfortable at the sound of Pucey, and Nike enraged. I unbuttoned by shirt and shed it. Caine and I found ourselves in our boxers with Avery and Nike in their underwear. Pucey came out from the bathroom and shook all of our clothes out to find nothing hidden. He then began a body search on Caine and I. He barely looked at Avery who was clearly ill at ease. He went to Nike, though, and turned her around several times.

"Clean are we, Shacklebolt?"

"I could have you fired for this." Nike warned.

"It's a necessary procedure; I'm sure Mr. Shacklebolt would understand."

"Maybe, but Harry Potter would not." I offset him. He turned around and glared at me.

"Don't threaten me, Malfoy. You have about as much power as Flitwick. Get dressed, all of you." We did as we were told and watched as they continued to pull out the contents of everything we owned. Achilles had pulled the mattress and box spring out of the frame, the clothes out of the closet, and had even gone as far as breaking the light bulb in the lamp. Pucey dropped every plate on the ground, irritating my mind, and took every book from its place on the shelf, flipping through the pages before throwing it aside.

The dorm was completely disheveled and unlivable when they were gone. They didn't bother to put anything back in place, not even with a charm. Avery did most of the work but it didn't feel the same afterwards; it felt cold and spied upon.

"I think a summoning charm would work on the stones-" Nike began.

"No. They're too heavy with power. It didn't work with the Resurrection Stone. We'll have to go to the bottom of the lake to find them." I told her. Nike looked at Avery who was pondering something with a questioning look.

"Where is that portfolio, Scorpius? All those papers?" She asked me. I blinked. I went to my room and saw it sitting against the bookshelf where it had been the whole time. I went back out.

"They didn't take it."

"Pucey didn't search that room, that's why." Nike said. "Achilles knows you need it."

And then there was more knocking. In came Albus with Meredith behind him. Avery and Albus stared at each other, Avery's look growing weak at the sight of her strong brother. Al looked at me.

"I say we all pull out of the Head positions." Albus said. I blinked, stunned.

"Why?"

"You, Nike and Meredith are all Heads, along with me and Avery. I'm assuming you've been searched too."

"Just now." I replied.

"These dorms aren't safe anymore." Albus said. "It's easier to be targeted when all of us are always in the spotlight."

"We can't do that; McGonagall already told Scorpius that Sam Finnigan would take his spot if Scorpius were to be pulled from the position." Avery told him.

"What if just Avery and I keep our positions? You all could come and stay with us." Albus shook his head angrily.

"They're not checking any of the other dorms, just the Head Boy and Girl dorms. Let Sam Finnigan take your place and they will be searching him instead and surely they'll find everything they have been meaning to find."

"That's only slowing the process." Caine said. "They could put him in Azkaban for years and he'd still be a part of this."

"Are you saying you want to die young?" Albus asked him, heated and jumping to conclusions.

"We need to wait for Finnigan to make the next move and then we'll make ours." I said decisively. Albus said nothing. "Go about your daily routines otherwise. If anyone asks, you know nothing." Albus looked irritated and with that he left, Meredith following closely behind him. Nike and Caine left after.

Avery looked at me with a noble expression in her eyes.

"What should we do today?" She asked. I shrugged.

"I have plenty of essays to write." She walked towards me and fixed the collar of my shirt.

"How does one get so brave?"

"I'm not brave. I'm scared of dying."

"Isn't that expected?" Again I shrugged. I kissed her gently and tucked some of her now short hair behind her ear. She led me into her room and sat me down on her bed. She undressed herself and then pulled out a white dress. She put it on and I felt a coolness in my lungs as I looked at her. The dress reached her knees and was one shoulder, flowing with lace for the make of the bodice.

I took her hands and pulled her in between my legs. She looked down at me.

"What happened last night?" I asked her. She became pensive at the thought. "With you and Wood?"

"Nothing."

"What exactly did you tell him?" Her lips were parted as if she had the truth on her tongue, but her eyes told me that she was trying her hardest to think of a nice way to put it. "Just tell me, Ave." She looked down at our hands, her lips closing for a moment and then opening back up.

"I just sort of told him that he was part of the Alliance, and then I told him who else, and then he went and told those people. And Sam came up to me and asked me if it was true and he started trying to kiss me and-"

"What?" I asked, rage infesting itself in my brain. She looked pained for some reason. "Did you kiss him back?"

"No, not at all. That's when I came back here. And you were gone for so long."

"It's starting." I said plainly. "He's trying to get me to come after him. He's going to go after you. I need you to let him." She furrowed her brow and shook her head, her hands resisting my grasp.

"Scorpius you're mad if you think I'll let him come after me."

"Maybe I am but he can't know about us or he'll really try to destroy you, Avery." She looked disgusted with me. "It's the least you can do after last night." She pulled her hands away from my grip and redressed herself in jeans and a gray sweater. She then wrapped a white scarf around her neck and put her hair in a bun.

I stood up and looked at her, wondering what her ultimate decision was going to be. She attempted to walk past me, but I stopped her, grabbing her arm. Her eyes grew to a dark brown, her stone-hard look returning.

"You want me to be live bait for you, Scorpius." She said.

"You're making it sound worse than it is."

"No; that's exactly what it is, Scorpius. You want me to fraternize with _your_ enemy."

"Isn't that what you were doing last night?" I yelled. "And not because I wanted you to; because you were tying make me jealous!"

"It worked, didn't it?" She asked through gritted teeth. I glowered at her, wanting to slap her straight across the face.

"You're screwing with me now, Ave." She pushed past me and went into the bathroom, grabbing her toothbrush. "You're messing with my head already, Avery!" I yelled at her. She slammed the door and locked it shut just to spite me. She knew I could open it if I wanted to, but I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction, though it was tearing me apart.

I went into my room and opened the portfolio, taking out all of the rolls of parchment Sinistra had written on. But I couldn't read any of them; she had done it all in runes.

"Shit." I said to myself. I walked out of my room, slammed my door behind me, the pieces of parchment in hand, and out of the dorm, leaving Avery with her thoughts.

I headed up to Achilles' room where she was arguing with McGonagall about the room searches.

"You have no authority to go through their dormitories like that!" McGonagall cried. "I never told anyone-"

"Pucey said you had."

"Well are you going to jump off a bridge if Pucey tells you that I told you to?" McGonagall said, livid. She turned around to leave, but stopped and stared at me.

"Malfoy, come with me." I followed her to her office where she pulled thoughts from her memory and put them into her pensieve. She then sat down behind her desk and sighed.

"I need to know what exactly you are up to."

"I'm not up to anything, Professor." I said honestly.

"Then why were you up in Professor Achilles' room?"

"I needed her to translate these papers for me." I said and put the pieces of parchment on her desk.

"Surely you understand that Achilles is the Astronomy professor, not the Ancient Runes professor?" I nodded.

"I do, but she-"

"You cannot so easily trust one in this building, Malfoy. If Professor Sinistra left you something to mull over, come to me first." She took the papers and flipped through them.

"The portfolio you gave me had tons of documents."

"Correct. I wasn't allowed to look at them."

"Achilles said I could trust her." I confessed to McGonagall. "She said you hired her because I could trust her-"

"My dear boy! I don't hire professors here, the Ministry does." My breathing became constricted, unsure of what to think about Achilles' lies. Avery had been right when she speculated about the professor. What was it that she sought in Hogwarts? "Professor Sinistra has left you an assignment of some sort?" I looked at McGonagall, not realizing that I had been concentrated on a snow globe on her desk with the Eifel Tower inside.

"No, no assignments. But she knew things about the Zodiac that could have helped me."

"The Zodiac?" McGonagall repeated. I nodded, forgetting that Achilles had lied about McGonagall knowing the "situation at hand."

"The Zodiac Alliance." I confirmed. "Don't you know about it?"

"Well of course I know about. But I hadn't expected students to know about it so early on." She became worried. "What exactly do you know about it, Mr. Malfoy?"

"All the students involved, some pieces of how it may play out…I've held the prophecy in my own hands."

"Then you know that any information you gather will not help you, that this is a game of wit, not one of strategy?"

"Well yes, I suppose-"

"I don't think it's safe to keep you on grounds, Mr. Malfoy." I blinked, shocked. "Several parents have threatened to pull their children from the school because of you."

"I haven't done anything to make them want to pull their kids out of school."

"You're conspiring, aren't you?"

"Not at all!" I said standing up. "If anyone is pulling their kids out of school it should be because of Sam Finnigan, not me! I'm staying put; I've done nothing wrong."

I stormed out of her office, my chest heaving with anger and mountainous energy that could have exploded any moment. But I was left at a dead end once more. I crumpled the papers in my hand and pulled at my hair looking up and down the hallway for any kind of support. There was no one, though, no one in the crowded and loud hallway to assist me in my search for any piece of hope.

"Scorpius!" I heard someone. I turned and saw Dev rushing towards me, books in his hand. He came to my side and we walked through the hall together, unknowing of where we were headed. "What happened last night? I looked everywhere for you."

"I had other things to attend to." I told him. I caught sight of his books; a maroon book, _Defending Yourself Against the Dark Arts,_ and a navy blue book behind it. He had just come from Defense against the Dark Arts.

"What class are you going to?" He asked me.

"None."

"Let me rephrase that; what class are you _supposed_ to be going to?"

"Arithmancy. You?"

"Ancient Runes." I knew it. I tore the navy blue book from his hands and stopped in the hallway. I looked at the cover; _Decrypting the World of Runes._ I looked at him.

"You know how to translate this stuff." I stated. He looked around, confused, and then nodded.

"Of course I do, Scorpius. I've been taking the class since third year."

"And you know it well, inside and out."

"I reckon so. I'd like to-"

"I need you to translate these papers, Dev." I said, holding up the pieces of parchment that Sinistra had left for me.

"You can't do it yourself? I have a project due for Divination tomorrow!"

"No, I can't because I don't know how to read the damn things." Dev looked sore as he rubbed the back of his neck. I knew I was asking a lot of him; I always did somehow. He was my most loyal friend. Maybe we found comfort in the fact that both of our parents had a downfall of their own, or maybe it was the fact that we could have been brothers at one point, or even…even me. He could have been me, could have taken better care of this verdict I was bestowed.

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Maybe you should clean yourself up; you look like hell." He took his book and the papers, turned and walked away from me. I prayed that I wasn't pushing him away.

* * *

I went to the Shrieking Shack for the rest of the day. It was overcome with a great mess from the party the night before. I cleaned it up the best I could with charms, but none of them seemed as powerful as Avery's.

I went upstairs, to the room Nike had set up for me. It was already clean, though. I sat on the bed and sighed, then lay down. I shut my eyes and thought about my failing relationship with Avery. I loved her, and the feeling went far beyond anything other than I had ever felt. I didn't know how I thought it was possible to marry the girl at such a young age. I still wanted to follow through, but I didn't know how to not act like a child.

"_Unforgettable…_" The sound rang in my ears like a child screaming. "_That's what you are."_ I opened my eyes but didn't see Nike around. I sat up, hearing the pitter-patter of small feet walking around upstairs.

"_Unforgettable…though near or far, like a song of love that clings to me, how the thought of you does things to me."_

I walked out into the hallway and instantly found myself holding onto the doorframe for support as a flash of blue light flew past my head and into the wall. I looked to my right and saw Evada Caldwell in the nearest doorway, in a bathrobe, her wand pointed at me.

"_Never before has someone been more…unforgettable…" _

I took out my own wand and shot back at her. Her wand rose into the air and broke into a thousand pieces, all falling like ashes around her bare feet. She groaned as some of the ashes burned her lightly. She looked down, annoyed, and then back up at me. My mind wandered for a moment, remembering the sore time in when I had sought the girl out for a night of pleasure. She was exceptionally irritating, telling me that she liked me when all I wanted was to just have her for that one night.

"YOU!" She roared from the pit of her gut. I watched in horror as the room became frigid; another being stepped out of Evada's body, pulling itself from her waist and ripping her legs away from Evada.

_The Gemini,_ I thought to myself. The being lunged at me and I backed into the room, shutting the door. But the ghostly doppelganger of Evada walked through the door. I raised my wand but it didn't shudder away at all.

I heard another shout from out in the hallway and in an instant the being was gone. I gasped for air, realizing that I had forgotten to breathe. I ran to the door and opened it up to see a pale Evada on the ground, her eyes wide open. I coughed, feeling my back hit the doorframe.

"She's not dead, just petrified." I looked down and saw Meredith Thomas with her own wand in hand.

"Good God." I said, exasperated. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't; I left a piece of jewelry here last night and then heard the music." I looked back in the room. "What were you doing here?"

"Just trying to get away…"

"…_That's why, darling, it's incredible that someone so unforgettable thinks that I'm unforgettable too."_

* * *

The sky in the Great Hall was unnaturally dark that night, no stars whatsoever. I took my spot next to Avery, my head searing. I couldn't bring myself to eat, the pain being unbearable. Avery looked at me but said nothing, recognizing my expression of agony.

McGonagall stood up near the end of dinner. Her voice resounded in the Hall.

"It is my understanding that a certain group of seventh years are under the impression that the school has become a playground for their experiments. I assure you that anyone found misbehaving and acting out will be punished or even expelled. You know who you are, you know what you're doing; it needs to stop. Today.

"As you all know, we have eight Head Boys and Girls. The number is going to be reduced to just one Head Boy and one Head Girl." The student body erupted with whispers. "Hogsmeade visits will only be allowed on Saturdays from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon, and eight in the morning until noon on Sundays. All students must be in their dormitories by seven o'clock each night. Any student caught out past curfew will suffer immediate and extreme consequences. These rules will be lifted once we begin to see some form in order of the school, but that's up to you. I trust you all will find it in you to change some, in not most, of your unwise habits."

I looked up and in that moment, I made contact with every person of the opposite side of the Alliance. First Wood, sitting so chummily at his Gryffindor table, like he had nothing to hide. Then Goyle, once a friend, now the enemy, at Slytherin. Catharina Ward, so beautiful and hypnotizing at her Hufflepuff table. Jordan, sitting next to Ward, proud and naturally snobbish. Then Evada sitting with her Ravenclaw friends, cold and disconnected however. Then I met Finnigan's eyes, the image burning in my retinas. None of these children were like their parents, I told myself.

I swallowed, feeling my throat swell. I looked at Avery, grabbing onto her thigh beneath the table.

McGonagall came back to the table, but stood in front of Avery and I.

"I have made the personal choice of selecting the two of you to keep your posts as Head Boy and Girl, for your own safety of course." She looked at me, tilting her head. "Malfoy, are you alright? You look terrible." I blinked, but it felt like forever that my eyes were closed. I looked back at Avery.

"I can't stay here." I pleaded. She looked back at McGonagall, not knowing what to say or do.

"Malfoy you are not obligated to leave grounds just because of your Head Boy status."

"I don't think you understand, Professor." Avery said, standing up and supporting me as I stood as well. James and Meredith walked over. "Scorpius suffers from severe headaches." I could feel the sweat accumulating on my brow line and my eyes were becoming increasingly lazy.

"Take him to the hospital wing then." McGonagall said.

"NO!" I screamed, grabbing onto the edge of the table and flipping it up. McGonagall took out her wand and the table was suspended in the air above us. I tore away from Avery's grip and marched back to our dorm, the plates flying out of the cabinet. I stood within their formation and felt my head become soothed.

Avery, Meredith, Nike and James all burst in after me. All of them except for Avery stared in trepidation, unsure what was going on. I felt like an alien; I felt so alone.

I remembered seeing Evada earlier that day; I realized I was dealing with something muck darker than I had originally thought.


	13. November 7th

Thirteen

McGonagall had ordered me to St. Mungo's for an evaluation on my mental health. She told me it was necessary if I wanted to keep my post. Avery sat next to me in the small room, holding my hand. The doctor came in and Avery stood up to shake his hand, greeting him in a most pleasant fashion. I couldn't bring myself to even imitate her, though.

The doctor, a tall man sat down opposite us with a clipboard in hand. He wore square glasses, thick rimmed, and his graying hair was combed over and slicked. He wore a long red tie with a white star at the bottom.

"Good morning, Scorpius." He said to me, much like the way a teacher talks to a very young student.

"Morning." I replied.

"I've been told many great things about you. But I understand that you're having some trouble-"

"I'm not having trouble." I said quickly. Avery sighed quietly and looked at the doctor.

"I've heard from several sources that you haven't been attending your classes and are having ruthless headaches. When did they start, the headaches?"

"Months ago."

"And were you injured before they started?"

"No." I said.

"Yes." Avery said. I looked at her. She sighed. "His father was abusive towards him after a long night of drinking."

"Abusive in what way?" The doctor asked. I was unsure if he was asking me or Avery as he was looking down at his clipboard.

"Scorpius has a rather significant gash on his back. It was done by a wand."

"I'm afraid I can't help you there…" The doctor said and his voice faded. I looked down at my feet, replaying "Unforgettable" in my mind like a broken record.

* * *

Avery and I walked out of St. Mungo's, holding hands. She was going on about how she couldn't believe that McGonagall would send us to a place that could do nothing about my emotional state or headaches when her own father had helped it for weeks.

A carriage took us back to the school and I listened to Avery go on about all the infinite reasons why St. Mungo's should invest in a new staff, saying that all the doctors seemed delusional. I looked out the small window at the scenes that we were passing by, Avery's hand resting on my thigh.

"Are you listening?" She asked me. I looked at her and nodded. "I'm sorry. I know you're in pain. Maybe we can get permission to go see Harry really quick this weekend." I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it so much. Did I tell you about Evada Caldwell?" I asked her.

"No. What about her? Other than the fact that she's the Gemini of course."

"Well…I went to the Shrieking Shack yesterday to get away from school. And she was there." I explained what happened and Avery looked trouble by the story. Something about it didn't fit together.

"If her power so resembles her sign then why doesn't Nike's or Meredith's?"

"I don't know." But I had a feeling that maybe that those powers of Nike's and Caine's and Meredith's were just the first guesses of what was to come. Maybe we had all really yet to discover what our summit of power was.

* * *

Avery left me that evening to go help Lily with studying. She said it would be a good time for my spinning plates. I sat down in my usual place and the plates whirred around me. I watched the fire, thinking about everything I had come to learn about my fellow accomplices. Nike and Meredith and Caine all had their niches, but I had nothing. I couldn't help but wonder if I were to have a power similar to Evada Caldwell's…

Devereaux Parkinson walked into my dorm with the papers in hand. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. He sat down beside me and put the papers down in front of us. There were notes on every free space of the parchment I had given him. And then he took out his own parchment, the runes rewritten in his handwriting.

"You didn't have to do them right away." I said, sitting up, the plates floating back into the cabinet.

"Well I wasn't going to. I read the first paragraph and couldn't look away." Dev said. "It's dark stuff, Scorpius. I mean, I know the Alliance is supposed to be dark anyway, but this is real heavy."

"And…" Dev scoffed and pointed at the papers.

"Have a look for yourself. I have to go anyway; it's almost curfew." I groaned remembering there was such a thing. He left in a hurry and I picked up his pieces of parchment.

_The constant reminder of death; we are always risking crossing over to the underworld._

_I can feel it deep within the water; the doom of the wizarding world is coming closer and is in the hands of the one most would do well to fear. I believe that should he not feel deceived by the one he loves the most, the girl, the Elf, he will succeed in his reign and pull us back to pureness, to the new age of witchcraft. She is, though, as I feared, growing weaker with time. _

_Her fuel, fed by the blood of newborns, is growing thinner every day. There will be no more fire between her and Scorpius by the time he has figured out what to do. Death, may it be upon both of them, will be the only thing to bring them back together, for when Scorpius' time comes he _will_ rule the underworld without anyone to get in his way._

_Scorpius could choose the honorable path and let go of the girl, of course. He has a duty to fulfill, to protect the innocent, to give life back to our world, to sew pureness back into our hearts. It is confusing, though; his wrath is evidently growing stronger._

I grew annoyed with the first page, finding no relevance in it. I went to the third and final page that Dev had given me. It had only two paragraphs on it.

_I am deeply worried that Scorpius has no real power to defend himself with, unlike the others. Academically, he is exceedingly talented, but lacks the dark imagination to experiment with his powers. Indefinitely, he will always be the most powerful in the zodiac, but Scorpius does not hold anything that could frighten people except that of his namesake._

_How this will all turn out, I could never be certain. But my insight grows stronger every day, Scorpius' constellation growing brighter in the sky every night. Should Scorpius succeed in defeating this alliance, his sons and daughters will be showered in eternal glory, and every dark wizard, dark witch, dark creature will bow before him. He will be the greatest sorcerer the world has ever seen._

_No real power,_ I thought to myself. I sat back, damaged by the words. Her thoughts of hope and a new age didn't help me any; again I was lost approaching a new dead end.

Avery came in only moments later, books at her hip like a child. She saw my look of defeat and sat down next to me, asking me what was wrong. I shook my head and summoned the papers into my room. I looked at her.

"Things aren't adding up like they should be." I confessed to her.

"Not yet, but they will, Scorpius. Everything will fall into place. I can feel it."

* * *

Dacia and Devereaux came to my dorm that weekend, along with Albus, Nike, Caine, and Meredith. It was my seventeenth birthday and all of them seemed excited for me. But I couldn't find any comfort in it, though I tried my hardest to cover it up. They all brought presents and food to the dorm, getting McGonagall's approval of the small birthday party.

We sat around the coffee table drinking butter beer and dwelling in the fact that none of us were really happy with where we were at, laughing at the dismalness of it all. But I felt safe in the room, as if nothing could hurt me. I wasn't sure I had ever felt that way.

"Did you ever tell the rest of them what we saw?" Meredith whispered as we stood at the sink, pouring glasses of butterbeer.

"Should I?" We looked back at how cheerful the others were. I looked back at Meredith who shrugged.

"You're the ringleader of this freak show, aren't you?" I smirked.

"Right."

"I just think they ought to know. And I think now would be a good time to decide when we'll reel in Helena and Francis."

"Isn't that kind of heavy for a birthday, Meredith?"

"We're all here-"

"Along with the Parkinsons."

"You've already had help from Dev, haven't you?"

"How did you know?"

"I saw him translating the runes."

"If you insist…" I whispered. We turned with the cups in our hands and sat back down at our seats. Avery put a hand on my lower back, tempting me just slightly to tell all of them to leave.

"I have to tell you all something." I said quietly. They all perked up. I found that whenever I spoke to them, they were all on the edge of their seats, fascinated with all of my simple thoughts. "I don't think the prophecy was just saying that we were the reincarnated Zodiac just to say it." Nike raised a brow at me and then looked at Albus who was just as curious.

I told them about Evada, ripping herself into two forms, one more ghost-like than the other. A light bulb all went off in their heads, simultaneously, and I could see the reflection of it in the gloss of their eyes. Albus said it first and for a moment, I wished he would take the place of Francis de Marche, but I reminded myself that de Marche was the Leo for a reason and not Albus Potter.

"If we are…'reincarnated' like the prophecy says then what would that make me?" Caine asked. We all looked at him, remembering that he was the driven Capricorn. "A bloody sea-goat?" Albus smirked. "It's not funny, Al."

"Well we're reincarnated; we're different forms of what we once were. Don't think that I want to go off and be a scorpion, Caine."

"But scorpions are deadly. A sea-goat?" Caine countered.

"A sea-goat," Avery began. "Is an ancient creature, Caine. He's a deity upon the sea, feared by most of the animals in the sea. He was an ally of the titans. It would do you some good to take pride in being the reincarnated spirit of the Capricorn, whatever form you may end up taking."

"I've got a better question." Nike spoke up. The attention shifted to her. "When should we inform Vane and de Marche?" I didn't know what the answer was. I didn't know if there was a right time to really enlighten them about what was going on. Surely they had heard the rumors, but were either too scared of the reality or just didn't care enough. "I'm almost positive Finnigan has talked to his side of the Alliance."

"He hasn't." Albus said. "He hasn't been in the Gryffindor dormitory in weeks."

"That doesn't mean he hasn't; maybe he just doesn't feel safe there." Nike said. "Scorpius, when should we tell the others?" I swallowed and looked down.

"I'll tell them within the next week." I promised. They all nodded and sat quietly for a few moments, depicting in their own imaginations what the rest of us would transform into. We all talked about our holiday plans for some time. Then we ate cake, opened presents, and they left Avery and I.

I came out of the bathroom as she was cleaning up the trash on the coffee table.

"Nice sweater that Dev got you." She said, picking it up from the coffee table. It was wool and an ivory color.

"Yeah," I said and walked over towards her. I took the trash from her hand and threw it in the dwindling fire. She grinned at me and I grinned back, picking her up and taking her to my bedroom. I set her down on the edge of my bed and kissed her deeply. She pulled back, biting her lip.

"Wait," She whispered.

"Why must you tease me so?" I asked as she got up and ran to her room. She came back in, her wand lit dimly. She held up a black cloak with navy lining on the inside.

"I ordered it from France." She told me as I took it into my hands, beaming. "It's got something in the pocket, something a little more traditional." I tuck my hand in the pocket and pulled out a small box, hanging the cloak up on a hook on the back of my door. I opened the box. "I'm sure your parents got you one as well but…I just wanted to."

A silver watch lie inside the box. I pulled it out, setting the box atop my dresser, and put it on. Looking closer, I realized there was engraving on the outer rim of the face, very small and in some foreign language I couldn't recognize.

"It says," Avery started, stepping closer to me with her wand pointing over the face. "_Man loved birds and invented cages; Magicians loved birds and set them free. _It's written in Elvin." I looked up at her and then kissed her once more, hungrily. Her wand dropped to the floor and the spark went out.


	14. The Fishes

Fourteen

I sat in my silent Arithmancy class watching Helena Vane study away. She was only the next row in front of me, to my right. She was a short girl, thin, yet curvy. Her hair was brown and straight, her skin fair with freckles lining the bridge of her nose. Dev had ached for her ever since our first year, openly admitting to her that he wished to marry her at the end of our second year. He never seemed to live it down.

The bell rang and everyone sprang from their seats as if they had been counting down the seconds since the dreadful class started. Helena hurried out of the classroom and possibly back to her dormitory as it was the last class of the day. I followed her up the crowded staircases, shoving people aside so I didn't lose her.

She turned down a near empty hallway, then down another and before entering a bathroom stopped, looking down the hallway to see me.

"Yes?" She asked. I searched deeply for the words but couldn't find them. "Oh come on, Malfoy, you didn't just chase me all this way to not say anything."

"Well…don't you know?" She blinked. "About the prophecy."

"Of course I know. The whole damn school knows. I expected it was only a matter of _time_ before you came and spoke to me." She was hinting at something, but I didn't understand. "Come here…" I looked back, making sure no one had followed _me_. I then followed her into the bathroom which had become abandoned over the years, much like the one on the second floor.

It was cold, almost too frigid to bear and the windows weren't open, though they had a frost on them. We walked past the stalls and towards the sink where she turned around and looked at me, her brown eyes growing icy.

"I can turn back the days, Scorpius."

"I can do that with a time turner. Or even a pensieve." I said.

"No it's not the same. Let me show you." She took my arm and I was overcome with a feeling of sickness in my stomach, as if all my organs were tangling around each other and pulling in different ways-

We were in the upstairs hallway of my home. My father was on the opposite end of the hallway and I remembered by the look of him that my mother had gone to her parents for the weekend. My father was drunk, holding a bottle in his hand, slurring his words and pointing at me with his free hand. Drool or some other clear liquid ran from his mouth down to his chin and onto the floor.

_You can stop him if you please._ Helena's whisper boomed in my mind as my father came barreling at me on this familiar occasion. He dropped the bottle before reaching for me neck, shards of glass flying out around us and alcohol staining the carpet with its strong aroma. Draco wrapped his hands around my neck and I pushed him away, fear infesting itself in my head. I could _feel_ his cold hands on my skin, telling me this was not just the memory I had tried so hard to remove from my mind. And this was not the vision of a time turner; I was in the same body, not watching the act happen. Where was Helena though?

I reached at my father's hands, though my own slipped against his ones which were wet with alcohol. He pushed me up against the wall and sneered in my face, inches from my face. I ached to breathe.

"You won't be going anywhere tonight, my son!" He said in a snake-like tone, elongating the 's' in 'son.' He tore me from the wall and sent me flying down the stairs. I could feel every one of my ribs cracking, my neck becoming bruised, my face becoming cut up by the edges of the marble stairs. I reached the bottom and got to my feet, racing for the door.

"But we've just begun having fun, Scorpius!" He roared. I put my hand on the door handle and then felt an excruciating pain in my left shoulder, then the fabric of my shirt becoming pasted to my body with some kind of heavy dampness. My knees buckled beneath me and I fell to them, feeling the pain stretching to the center my back and further down to my hip.

I closed my eyes, my head shaking. When I opened them back up, I was standing in the girls bathroom once more, opposite Helena Vane.

"What's wrong with you?" I bellowed.

"You could have changed the way it happen, Scorpius. You could have taken out your wand once you reached the bottom of the staircase, turned it on him." She told me, no feeling in her tone. "You reliving that is just a dream to him, but had you changed it, perhaps he would have the scar, not you." I could feel my wound throb beneath my clothes.

She turned and walked towards the window, removing some of the frost with the side of her fist.

"Can you imagine what it would do to someone to make them relive their worst memory over and over again?" She craned her neck to look at me. "Like…Sam Finnigan perhaps. It would simply drive one crazy." She looked back out the window.

"You…you can pick which memories a person relives?" I asked her.

"No. Your mind does that; your mind will always choose the darkest memory. Well, not always the darkest. Just the strongest, but most of the time it's going to be an unresolved conflict and that usually involves something dark."

"And you…what have you done with this sort of power?"

"I've redone tests-"

"Tests? Those are your strongest memories?"

"No, but I have more control over this than you do. I've yet to experience anything in my life that would lead me down a path of darkness, Malfoy."

"Can you do anything else?" She turned around, her eyes going back to their normal warmth.

"I've been trying but I haven't been able to control how it works yet."

"What is it?" She hesitated and crossed her arms over her chest, finally feeling how cold it was in the bathroom. We could now see our breath.

"Every time I enter the water, I can feel myself…" Again she hesitated, afraid of sounding crazy but I knew what she was trying to say.

"Split." I said. Her eyes widened.

"Well, yes, I guess you could call it that."

"The Pisces, Helena; two fish swimming in opposite directions."

"But I'm hardly a fish."

"No; you're reincarnated into human form." I said, having the relevation that none of us would really change into any sort of beast.

"But I'm hardly a human either. I can't breathe above water when this happens." I nodded.

"I need you to do something for me, before the winter comes."

* * *

I sent Helena to meet with Caine that afternoon to discuss exactly what his stones looked like. They sat in the library many afternoons that week, Caine testing Helena to see if she remembered which rock was which, how it may make her feel if she were to pick it up.

They came back to my dorm that weekend, near midnight, wearing heavy cloaks. Avery stood next to me, covered up in a blanket. She kissed me goodbye and reminded me that I could be expelled for leaving that late. I reminded her that this had to be done before the first snow came and before the lake froze over.

Quietly, we went down to the entrance doors of Hogwarts, slipping out into the brisk night air and hurrying down to the lake. Caine and I stood by as Helena shed her warm clothes only leaving on the bathing suit she had put on underneath.

"How long have you stayed under before?" I asked.

"I told you there were some things I had yet to work out, Scorpius." She told me. "I haven't actually let this run its course before; I've always been scared. It's not normal to be able to split into two people."

"Right," Caine said with a hint of worry in his voice. "We'll be here when you come back up."

"Well what if someone comes outside, like Filch?" She asked us. I looked back and forth between the two who were both focused on me. "It could be hours. Blimey, I could die down there!" She exclaimed in a whisper tone.

"No you couldn't. Unless Sam Finnigan is down there waiting for you, which I really doubt is the case. None of the Zodiac can be killed by an outside force."

"We'll have to leave you if someone comes." Caine said. "You'll be fine, though. They won't want to wait out here; it's too cold."

"You would know." Helena said bitterly. She turned and began her descent into the lake, at first only going in until her knees were covered. We watched and waited for ten minutes until finally a twin stepped forward from her back. Then, in an instant, the two dove into the water and sped off in opposite directions. I looked at Caine.

"I've never seen anything like it in my life." He said. We sat down and shivered for what seemed like hours. The wind howled at us, telling us to go back inside, but we had to wait. We had to see what she uncovered. The dark sky seemed to lift at some point, and it got lighter. I looked at Caine, his face pale and his lips a shade of blue.

Then, only one of Helena Vane sprung from the water, fistfuls of stones in her hand. She coughed, dropping the stones at Caine's feet. I stood and put my own cloak around her soaking body. Caine picked up his stones and put them all in his pockets. Helena managed to dress herself and we went back into the school, back to my dorm, where Avery gave up her bed to Helena and Caine took a seat on the couch, spreading out all thirteen of his stones on the coffee table.

"They're all there then?" I asked.

"All of them. Even the Resurrection Stone."

"You'll keep them in here." I told him. "Avery has a music box you can put them in."

"A music box?" He asked, making the idea seem ridiculous. "Does she put her jewelry in there as well, and her perfume?"

"No. You're mind is so narrow, Caine. It's an enchanted music box, only opens to Avery's voice."

"And what if the two of you break up?" Caine whispered.

"She'd still be my friend."

"Oh right, like on Halloween when she told the whole world-" Avery came out from my room and threw a glass vase in Caine's direction. It flew past his head and into one of the bookcases, shattering and only to repair itself a moment later.

"I should have you know, Caine, that if I wasn't an Elf, it would be _me_ sitting there. Either way, I'd be by Scorpius until the end so get off my case." Avery slammed my bedroom door shut and went back to bed. The vase hovered in the air, waiting to be placed. I walked over to it and placed it upon the mantelpiece. Caine looked terrified.

"Maybe you should go and get some rest." I told him. He stood and headed for the door.

"And what about you, aren't you going to get some rest for yourself." I shook my head.

"I need to find de Marche."

"Right, well I expect he would be helping Hagrid on a morning like this. De Marche loves the beasts." He walked away.

"As do I," I whispered to myself.

* * *

I found Francis de Marche down near Hagrid's just as Caine had said. He was tending to what appeared to be a young planted tree, three inches in diameter at most. I studied it, perplexed.

"It's a dryad, you know." Francis said as I took my place standing next to him. "A common tree nymph. She'll be ready to come out in spring; she'll still be quite small, though."

"Fascinating." Francis looked up at me as finished watering the plant.

"I know why you're here, Scorpius." He said in his Irish accent. His mother had been from France originally and his father was said to sweep her off her feet when she fled from her rich Muggle family in Paris and traveled to Ireland for the summer. Most of the girls went crazy over him, finding his love of magical beasts incredibly attractive yet in a sensitive manner. Avery often told me that Lily always grew quiet around him. His hair was black, his eyes blue, freckles often coloring his face after summer. "I'm not sure there's much I can help you with, though. I haven't got anything special to give to you."

"Not yet at least." He shook his head and looked up into the nymph's small branches, touching them as if to find some kind of pulse a human would have.

"No. I've got nothing to show." My mind fled back to my first conversation with Sinistra. There had been another with Francis' birthday. Perhaps she had made a mistake…

"But, you're in the prophecy." He looked at me, still reaching up in the branches of the tree.

"I know. But I really have never had any kind of secret, no dark magic. I'm a simpleton, Scorpius. Perhaps you should invest your time with Albus Potter. We have the same birthday, you know."

"No it's not possible; Sinistra was sure you were the Leo-"

"Well what would be the difference between Potter and I? His father was a famous Gryffindor; hell, he saved the world. Me, I'm not anything special."

"Sinistra wouldn't have made the mistake. She was _sure-_"

"Look I wanted to believe as bad as you do that I was part of this, but I wouldn't be any help in trying to save the world. It's in Potter's blood, not mine. Now if you don't mind, I have more nymphs to attend to." He walked away and left me standing there. I sighed and turned back towards the school.


	15. The Leo

Fifteen

It became regular for Nike, Meredith, Helena, and Caine to come to me on the weekends to check up on the progress I had made with de Marche. Albus typically came with them and Avery always listened in, giving her input when a wise word was needed. Usually we found her countering Caine on any point he made, usually because he irritated her but I kept guessing that she was a little bit jealous that she was not in his place.

"Can't you use one of your rocks to figure out what's up with de Marche?" Avery said bitterly. Caine shot her a look.

"Yeah, can't we spy into his thoughts or something?" Nike asked.

"No. They don't work like that." I told both of them, defending Caine who was beginning to feel defeated by the look on his face. "List off the names of them again, Caine, I can't remember."

"The stone of Being, of Encompassing, of Curiosity," As he said all of them, he arranged them in the specific order. "Of Sentiment, of Ruling-"

"That's the Leo's stone, correct?" I said, cutting him off. He placed the stone in the order and nodded. "What does it do?"

"It gives one the power to sway a person. Hold this in your hand while trying to convince a group of people and you don't have anything to really about."

"Well can't we _sway_ de Marche into our arms?" Nike asked.

"He doesn't need convincing-" Albus stepped in.

"Maybe he does." I said. "He was sure that he wasn't part of the Alliance, that Sinistra had made a mistake. Keep listing them off, Caine."

"The Virgo's stone of Exploration, the stone of Assembly, the stone of Desire, the stone of Seeking, the stone of Utilization, the stone of Knowing, and the stone of Believing."

"Wouldn't the stone of Believing and of Ruling be the same thing?" Meredith asked.

"No." Caine told us. "The stone of Believing deals with the intuition of Pisces. This will tell you what the better decision would be if you come to a fork in the road."

"Yes, but a Scorpio would have the better intuition, wouldn't they?" Avery asked.

"Not necessarily. A Pisces is much more practical than a Scorpio. A Scorpio is a dreamer to say the least, and they often do have a very good intuition, but they deal mostly with other beings and do mess up where a Pisces deals with life most of the time. Common myth has is that the fish of the Pisces are often swimming away from each other but in a circle which represents life after death, reincarnation – _life_ in general. A Scorpio's intuition is always geared towards desire and most of the time digs _too_ deep, therefore becoming blind to the truth." I looked at Helena who looked almost uncomfortable with the topic.

"Helena," I said quietly. "You could look back into my past, but could you look back into de Marche's without him being present." She looked at me and thought for a moment. Then she nodded.

"It's incredibly difficult because I don't have a strong sensation of what his memories are. But I can do it, given enough time and privacy."

"The girl's bathroom doesn't work then." I said. I looked at Avery. "Could you do it here if Avery and I were to leave?" Avery raised a brow.

"Yes. But what exactly do you want to find in de Marche's past?" I looked at Helena again.

"Any acts of bravery, anything to do with lions, or hybrids of lions. Anything that would give him proof that he really is the Leo. If he still doesn't believe me, I'll have to put the stone of Ruling to use."

"When will you be gone?" Helena questioned.

"Thursday night." Avery answered quickly. "You know the password to the portrait. We'll be back the next morning, though." Helena nodded. Avery got up and went into her room, slamming the door. I looked down, slightly ashamed. She was angry.

* * *

Avery and I left the grounds in the early afternoon on Thursday. We walked for miles before I asked her where it was we were going.

"Harry leaves a portkey for me whenever I need one. But he has to make sure no one else can find it." We came off of the road we were on and ventured deep into a forest. I watched her walk in front of me as her hair became long once more, curling just a bit but still smooth and shiny as ever, and her robes turned to white. Her skin also had a milky glow to it; something I had only witnessed when she had began at Hogwarts. In time, the glow had faded.

"Don't speak unless you're spoken to." She said gravely as we came to a flower that had a blue glow to it. She picked it up and held it in her hands. I touched the petals and looked into her eyes which had transparency to them that I had never seen. "They are pure creatures, but they won't tolerate misunderstanding of what we are, like you have so demonstrated in the past."

In another moment, we landed on top of a soft layer of fresh, dusty snow. There was a cobblestone road, small brick cottages lining it and bracing the freezing weather. Avery led us down to the end of the road and past the last cottage. Again we were in a thick forest and the snow was becoming crisper beneath our feet; soon it would ice over.

We came to a stone well where the water had yet to freeze over. Avery dipped her index and middle finger in, and then wiped them down the bridge of her nose. She did the same with me and we proceeded, deeper and deeper into the woods.

The evergreens were changing, though. The further we went, the lighter they got, now blooming with an intense golden glow, and they grew thicker as we moved on. Finally we were surrounded by them and there was no getting through the ones in front of us. Avery took my hand and touched the bristles of one of the trees. After a moment, the ground shook beneath our feet and every tree seemed to explode with new branches of gold. The trees parted and gave way to a new path, a short one this time.

Avery, still holding onto my hand, led us through the path and there was a warm light above us that was not the sun.

"What is it?" I asked, unable to really look at it.

"It's a halo of security. The water from the well ensures us entry and lets the rest of them trust us." She replied gently. I looked ahead and saw a large cathedral type building that sat upon a hill, and smaller houses and buildings surrounded that hill, rivulets further surrounding those buildings. Orbs of light danced around in the atmosphere.

We walked up a long set of stairs to the cathedral and before we reached the doors, they opened for us. There were no rows of benches, though. There were candles and many flowers, many, many flowers, all of them white. There was another well at the head of the building. There were others inside, tall, mostly dark haired, thin, all wearing white. They all stood around the well.

"Mistress Romanox," A man with a low yet kind voice called out at the head of the cathedral. "You've come with a visitor."

"Forgive me." Her voice had gone almost airy and somewhat deep. "I thought it important for him to see what kind of life I lead, should he be the one." We walked towards the well and looked up at the man who had spoken to her. His hair was long, just like Avery's, with a slight curl at the end, and half it was pulled back into a plait.

"The one…" The man said and he walked down to the well, facing us. He put his long hands out over the well. "You are…too young to know the difference between one man and the next." He said quietly, keeping his eyes on me. "Then again, he is no man, is he?"f

"He is the one they all talk about; the King of Scorpions." They did not look taken aback; instead they looked at Avery, who looked into the well and sighed heavily. I looked down and saw that the liquid in the well had gone opaque and thick…had gone red. My insides trembled.

"He does not understand your need yet." The man said.

"He is trying, sir." Avery replied. "His heart is heavy."

"Yes, I can see that. While you feed, I will show him the Halls-"

"The Halls, sir?" Another man, much younger, said.

"Yes, I will show him the Halls. Get Miss Romanox a goblet; she is very weak." He looked at me. "Come with me."

I followed him out the back of the cathedral and down a different staircase. We came upon a building nearby, very tall and long from what I could see. Again he raised his hands in front of the doors, and locks clicked and turned. The doors opened after a matter of seconds into a place where there were no lights but it was still illuminated.

"Forgive me for being so rude; my name is Dionysos, leader of the Abraxus clan here."

"Scorpius Malfoy." I say, admiring the large stone carvings that surrounded us.

"I should have you know; only men and women of great honor are granted into this hall." At the end, I could see high as the ceiling bookshelves and tables which had parchment rolled out.

"It is an honor," I said.

"But you are not sure why it is such an honor. These are…" He said as we came to a stop in the middle of the hall, and he looked around at all the statues. "The Greek gods. Much like you having your portraits in the witchcraft world, we have statues…" He said, his tone becoming disconnected as he studied the figure behind me. He lifted his hand and pointed at the figure. I glanced at it. "We do not deal with magic here, just beings…"

"Athena." He said boldly. I turned all the way around and backed away, fearful, as the statue began to crack and crumble. A woman whom had been standing with a shield of armor at her feet and a helmet had become real and undeniably intimidating.

"You have brought me the prophet, Dionysos." She spoke clearly and her voice echoed just as clear in the hall. She looked down at me, her eyes dark but warm. She was tall, much taller than I or Dionysos.

"So I have, Athena."

"Heading to war, but with no idea of what he's fighting for." She said. "You are, as they say, the last descendent of Hyperion, the titan, god of light." I narrowed my eyes.

"I am not a titan, I hardly consider myself much a prophet, I have nothing to-"

"Give, but of course that's what you say. You are filled with so much wonder and have yet to gild your power. Maybe you are not a titan yet, but you are a prophet, and you _are_ the King of Scorpions. Should you succeed in bringing the world of witchcraft back to light, you would be considered a titan. You would be given the power to light the world." I blinked, unsure what to say. Was I being rude, I wondered, by being speechless?

"Scorpions are the reminders of death, which we are constantly in danger of reaching it." Dionysos said to me; I recalled Sinistra's pieces of parchments which Dev had translated for me. "As you are that reminder for our world, you are also the last beacon of hope we all are so desperately looking to find. Your heart may be heavy, but I think it can be agreed that you have the faith of the gods behind you." I looked at Athena who nodded.

"I don't know what to do," I confessed. "People are going to die." Again Athena nodded in agreement.

"People will always die, Scorpius. They will never die in vain though. And these people will die as martyrs for your cause." She said to me. "Perhaps you don't know what to do because everything has yet to unfold. You are looking for answers which are not there yet."

"And they will come?" I asked.

"Yes, they will come eventually, like spring and like summer come, the months we all wait to see. You are, so undoubtedly, the one everyone else is waiting to see. Bring the beacon, and everyone will follow. Take my spear, and I will trust that when your day of being a titan comes that you will bring it back to me." She handed out her larger than life spear and I took it, hesitantly. It shrunk to fit my hands. I looked back up at her, her eyes sparkling. "The stinger to the Scorpio, how fitting."

And with that the pieces of stone which had crumbled around her lifted into the air and placed themselves all around her like pieces to a puzzle. I looked at Dionysos who seemed pleased.

* * *

Avery and I stayed at a visitor's cottage that night, small enough for a bed, a bathroom, a bookshelf, and a small kitchen. That cottage was one of three and was utilized only for those who had family that were not part Abraxus.

I laid down next to Avery as she read a book. She closed the book and looked at me.

"I've never even been in the Halls. Is it true about the gods?" I nodded. She grinned and patted me on the chest. "You lucky bastard." She said. I laughed and brought her in for a kiss.

* * *

Helena was napping when we returned early the next morning. She looked paler than when we left. Avery began cooking something for her to eat; I gently woke her up. She was sweating just slightly, shocked to see me in front of her. She lifted her head up and looked around as if she was in a daze. Finally she sat up.

"Well?" I asked, sitting down in one of the chairs next to the couch.

"Well what?" She asked. I groaned.

"Did you get any information on de Marche?" Again, she looked as if she was in a daze, as if she couldn't remember how she had gotten there. Then her eyes grew wide.

"He does have something, something the rest of us don't…" She said in almost whisper tone. "I tried going to different memories but I couldn't; it was like I was just _stuck_ on this one image. And it didn't make any sense at first; it was like it was a dream."

"What was it?" I asked. Avery brought a plate of toast and eggs and set them down in front of Helena. Helena didn't say anything, her eyes fixated on nothing in particular.

"He was a boy, bringing a kitten back to life. He can bring anything…" She paused. "Anything back to life."

"Well the Resurrection stone can do that." I said.

"No…" She looked up at me. "Those are ghosts. He knows how to give one part of his life to bring them back, to revive them back into life. He does it in Herbology all the time, mainly because he's not that good at taking care of the plants, but that's not the point. He can do it with any being, anything that grows."

"Why wouldn't he have told us that?" I asked.

"Because, he doesn't know it's extraordinary. He thinks anyone can do it." Avery said. "When in fact, the idea of resurrection is…inhumane almost. To have to go through the mourning of a loved one and have them brought back to life…it's dangerous for the psyche." I stood up.

"I'm going to find him-" Avery stood up as well.

"No you're not, Scorpius. He doesn't trust you. You intimidate him."

"And he trusts you?" I asked her childishly.

"No, but I know someone he _can_ trust."

"Who?" I cocked my brow.

"Lily," Avery said quietly.

"Lily? She's not even his age-"

"They've been talking, Scorpius. Give it a shot." We stared at each other for a moment as I quickly mulled it over in my head.

"Fine, but one shot and that's all. Helena showed me her time turning after five minutes of talking-"

"Yes, well you have a way with women, don't you?" Avery said, bulleting me like an idiot. "I'm going to class. Maybe you should too considering your grades are awful right now." I rolled me eyes as she passed me. Helena looked up at me once she was gone.

"She's right you know; I think just about every girl in the school has liked you at some point or another. Most of Avery's friends haven't talked to her in weeks because they're jealous of her." I looked at Helena suspiciously.

"She told me it was because of Al." Helena shook her head, grabbing a piece of toast, and standing up.

"Most of Avery's friends are in Ravenclaw; they all told her to break up with you because you're a menace. But behind closed doors they were always talking about how you were in bed."

"What?" I asked, finding the idea laughable but stupid.

"Well that's what everyone's heard anyway. And wouldn't it be safe to assume, considering you are the Scorpio?" She said and walked past me, out the portrait and into the rest of the school. I dwelled on the thought for a moment and then tried to erase it from my mind.

* * *

"Mr. Malfoy," He said as the bell rung. "May I have a word with you? It should only take a moment." I groaned silently, dragging my potions book off my desk. I advanced towards Adrian Pucey's desk. I loathed him for reasons unknown, but I figured it had something to do with the fact that he hadn't liked my father.

"I must apologize for searching you and your friends the other day. It was unprofessional but you must understand," He said, without looking me in the eye. Instead he was spreading out an assortment of essays on his desk. "Caution needs to be taken in a time like this. Having been a part of Harry Potter's generation-"

"I get it." I interrupted. "But there's no need to butter it up. You didn't have permission from McGonagall to do that." His eyes floated up, dark beneath his hard brow. "You were doing it to benefit yourself."

"Bravery…" He said slowly. "A trait your father didn't have."

"You would have killed Dumbledore if the task had been given to you?" I asked him. He said nothing. I nodded. "That's what I thought." I turned and left the classroom.

* * *

It seemed that I had given up my position of the Slytherin seeker and captain over the months and Avery her position of keeper. Dev had taken over after I had ditched my third practice replacing Avery and I with two hopeful fifth years.

I managed to make it to the pitch that afternoon to find him in the air, shouting at one of the fifth years to pick up the slack. I stood at the bottom, looking up, hands in my pockets. I was bored stiff, still waiting to hear back from Avery.

"If you miss another ball, Marinelli, what would be the point of me going after the snitch anymore?" Dev yelled at the keeper.

"You're much too hard on them." I called up. Dev looked down and for a moment it looked as if he were going to turn his wrath on me.

He looked back up at the team. "Right…five minute break, I think." The team went to the stands, retrieving their water bottles and what not. Dev descended towards me, shaking his head.

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for this." He said, bitterly. I shrugged.

"Maybe they're the ones who are in over their head. Then again…" I paused looking at the scrawny keeper. I looked at Dev. "You are a bloody brilliant player, meant for much higher skies than these ones."

"You were always better." He said quietly, kicking the sand below his feet.

"Not at all. It was my fault we lost the cup last year. You were always faster than me; if you were the seeker last year we would have won for sure. I only ever played because my father wanted me to."

"Yeah well, I suppose we won't be doing any better this year. Anyway, need me to translate some more runes for you?"

"No, just wanted to come see how it was going. I know it's hard to believe I'm not obsessing over the prophecy."

"You seem different today, like you're more confident." He told me.

"Yeah? I feel different, a little less claustrophobic. I let Avery take on a task; maybe that's why."

"So are you really doing it then?" He asked. I looked at him, unsure of what he meant. "Marrying her?"

"How did you find out about that?" Dev shrugged and looked back at his team in the stands.

"Whispers here and there. Does that mean it's true?"

"Well, I considered it a fair plan. If something were to happen, I wouldn't want her to feel empty handed."

"Right…well I better get back to practice or whatever you'd like to call it; it's more of training if you ask me." I smirked. With that he fled into the sky, the speed of his broom kicking me back just a bit.

* * *

I watched Avery enter the full Great Hall that night, Lily at her side. Shortly after, Francis de Marche walked in with a smile on his face. Avery took her place next to me.

"You've got your lion," She whispered. I looked at her, stunned.

"How- how did she manage I mean?"

"Don't worry about it, my dear. In return for my well-doing, I would like your company tonight, yours and only yours." She cooed, giving my thigh a playful squeeze. I grinned.


	16. Children

Sixteen

I woke up the next morning, stalked into the bathroom, glanced in the mirror and saw that my hair was a mess. I also had something that resembled a bruise on my collarbone. I smirked at my muddled reflection. I heard Avery get up out of bed and go into the fridge. Then I heard the window open, the breaking of a piece of china. Worried, I walked out of the bathroom to see Avery looking out the window. A cup had shattered at her feet, and her lips were parted in the most delicate fashion.

I went to her, studied her face which had gone ice cold and not just because the window was letting in the early winter breeze. Then I heard an ominous crackle, hissing at me from the outside. I looked out the window and saw the forest ablaze. My heart stopped for a moment then sped up far beyond its normal rate. I looked at the base of the forest and saw many administrators and ministry workers watching, doing nothing to save it.

I dressed myself in a pair of black slacks that I had worn the day before, the same button up, ignoring the top buttons, and put my cloak on. I grabbed my wand and walked out before I could hear Avery telling me to wait.

Most of the student body was waiting in the foyer of the school and I could tell that they had been forced to wait and hear for the outcome by the administration. I pushed past them all and found myself face to face with Nike who had been told to guard the door.

"I can't let you go out there, Scorpius." She said to me. She was standing with Albus.

"And why not?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"My father has told me not to let anyone get out, Albus' as well-"

"I don't give a flying FUCK what they've told you to do, Nike!" I bellowed. She winced just slightly.

"Get out of her face, Scorpius." Albus said grimly. I turned my glare on him.

"Neither of you are Heads of the school anymore, now step aside." I warned. Albus looked at me for what seemed like an eternity and then he stepped to the left. The student body began screaming and arguing. As I walked out, I caught only a glimpse of a red flash.

I walked to where I could see Aurors and staff alike and then Kinglsey Shacklebolt, tall and bold. McGonagall turned around, sensing my presence.

"What's going on?" I demanded. The rest turned to see me and Harry Potter stepped out among the group and I knew he would try to calm me. I stopped, though, avoiding him, and kept my stare on McGonagall. "What are you doing?" I yelled.

"Malfoy, the time for explanation will come-" McGonagall began. I looked at the staff and did not see Hagrid present.

"No, do you know what you're doing? Huh? There are living creatures in those woods and you've just murdered them!"

"Scorpius," Harry said, nearing me. I looked at him and felt my rage billowing up inside me.

"_Don't_ come near me, Potter. If you were really the man they say you are you would extinguish this whole thing right now."

"You don't understand. We can't do anything about it." He said to me. My eyes grew wide in shock. "It's Fiend fire."

"What are you saying?" I asked, barely audible to even my own ears. "What are you saying, Potter?" I repeated.

"It's likely that a student casted it early this morning. There are…several missing." He told me quietly. I heard Avery's breathing next to me, sounding as if she were exhausted. I put my hand over my heart and looked at the monstrous fire.

"Avery…" I breathed. I watched her as she walked towards the forest. Like a child in a candy store, she looked up at the fire, wonder painted in her glazed eyes. And in seconds, a wind came across all of us, kicking us back, but Avery stood tall and brave. It took the fire into a twister in the sky and then it vanished and began to rain ash.

I stared in awe at the forest which was now only gray, swallowed in ash, and only the oldest trees remained, though they were dead, most of their branches missing. I ran, past the staff and band of Aurors, past Avery and into the cloud. My heart pulled me to something, something of great force. And then I came to her, the small girl who lay still in the ashes, her face eaten by flames. I didn't know her, but I took her into my arms, weeping.

"Fuck," I whispered as I touched her decrepit and crumbling cheek. I then touched what was left of her dirty blonde hair, but it fell to the ground. I looked up at the dark sky. "FUCK!" I set the decaying girl back down on the ground and hunched over her, my hands near her remains but unable to bring themselves to touch her, fear that I would further the decaying process.

I felt strong hands on my shoulders, gently at first, trying to comfort me enough to get me to stand. Then they plucked me from my spot on the ground, and as much as I struggled to get away from them, they held me tightly. Everything was silent as the Aurors began their panicked search in the woods, casting spells every which way around me.

I felt that person turn me around in their arms and then my head held tightly against their chest. And I recognized the cloak against my face as my father's. My hands tightened around the fabric of the cloak, tightened into fists, and then in one swift movement, I pulled my father as close to me as I could and pushed him away. I pointed my wand at him. He wasn't stunned by my actions as most would have imagined; my doings were predictable to him, and he was one of the only beings who could predict them.

"You brought me into this world, into this _hell_!"

"Scorpius!" I heard Avery and then felt her hand on my arm. I resisted her, walking towards my father. I took his hand and placed my wand in it, then pressed my forehead against the tip of my wand.

"Take me out of it." I begged. "TAKE ME OUT OF IT!"

* * *

I woke up in the hospital wing. Avery was sitting nearby, watching everyone hustle in and out of the ward. She looked at me once I had sat up.

"He came to say goodbye to you, Scorpius." She said softly. "Your parents…they went to India." My eyes widened as I searched for the clock. Five hours had passed since I had been put out of my misery for a spell.

"They were five found in the woods. They were…" She shook her head in disgust, picking at a fray on her cloak. She looked back up at me, her eyes dark. "They were _all_ first years. Do you know what five is, Scorpius?" I said nothing, gave no gesture of understanding. "The lucky number of the Virgo."

I sprang from my bed, ran out of the wing, Avery following after me. I reached the Great Hall and saw Sam Finnigan sharing a laugh with Evada. I took my wand, which had been placed back in my cloak, pointed it at him and he rose into the air, his laugh growing, and even louder when his back hit the ceiling.

"It was you!" I screamed. I then felt, once more, the tip of a wand on my skin. I glanced at Evada, who was still in her spot, but her wand was also pointed at me.

"Lower your wand then," A male whispered at the back of my head. I recognized it as Goyle's.

"Lower yours first." It was Nike approaching the Great Hall. "I'm serious, Goyle; I'll have you on fire in five seconds." Sam Finnigan was strung in the air like a puppet and it looked like he was enjoying his time. Everyone in the Great Hall was waiting for the next move among us all. Avery stood, frightened.

"Goyle," Nike warned.

"Give it up, Shacklebolt. Once he brings Sam back down…" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nike walk past me, her wand extended in the air, pointed in Evada's direction. Now Evada shifted her own wand to reflect Nike.

I took my chances and backed my elbow into Goyle's ribs as fast and hard as I could. Someone screamed as Sam Finnigan came falling from the ceiling. His body hit the table below him with an unimaginable crash and then he was laughing again.

"Expelliarmus!" Nike bellowed, Evada's wand being pulled from her grip. But, it had flown into Finnigan's own.

"STUPEFY!" I roared at him. He was blasted backwards into the air once more and I walked down the aisle to greet him, pressed my foot against his throat. Evada's wand had snapped in his hand from the blow. His face was bloodied up but he still had the same menacing look on his face.

"It was you." I said again.

"Why do you act surprised?" He asked, his voice strained with the weight of my foot.

"Kids? You killed _kids_."

"They weren't yours, were they?" I jabbed my wand into his cheek.

"Pull something like that again, Finnigan." I said.

"Ooh, Scorpius, you're being very bold, aren't you? Which continent should I go to next? I was thinking Africa but I'm reconsidering America because nothing exciting ever happens there. Maybe I'll catch some Yankee tail while I'm there."

"You're sick."

"And you can't kill me."

"Not until you slip, Finnigan."

I felt Avery's grip on my arm, ripping me away from him.

"McGonagall is coming." She whispered to me.

"Ahh, girlfriend always coming to the rescue, isn't she?"

"You're not worth the trouble." Avery countered. We walked away and made it out to the foyer to have McGonagall stop, Avery, Nike, and myself. We could hear the Great Hall erupt in chatter afterwards.

"Malfoy, I need a word with you." I glanced at Avery, squeezing her hand tight before McGonagall led me up to her office. She sat behind her desk, contemplating what to say. There were so many things she could have said to me right then. I feared the worst, that the school would have to be closed down. I expected it in fact. Why she would have told me first was unknown. I had no place in her heart, not like the Potter or Weasley families.

"What must be done?" She asked quietly. I tilted an ear towards her, wondering if I had misunderstood. "To keep the school afloat?"

I blinked. "You want the school to stay open?"

"Kids can't go home but parents are already pulling their children out."

"I don't understand, Professor. Why can't kids go home?"

"It's unsafe out there. If you think it's bad here, it will be worse with people like Samuel Finnigan out in the world. If the fight is kept within the school, there is a better chance of extinguishing the problem."

"So you believe me then, that he's behind all of this?" She didn't make any gesture. In fact she looked down at her hands.

"I'm afraid I have no choice. After seeing the way you acted this morning, it's safe to say that you're intelligence is genuine. Now, please…" She was asking me to stay on topic. I thought for a moment. The way I saw it, I didn't know how the Ministry couldn't shut it down. Then I thought of Nike, of the bull on fire.

"What has the Minister said?" she sighed and then her lip trembled a bit.

"That the fight to keep it open would be a tough one." The fight…I thought. The music of Avery's jewelry box played back in my mind.

"You're going to think I'm crazy. Incredibly crazy. And you're going to want the student who has had a part in this to turn in all of his work, but I can't let you do that."

"Do you have a plan then?" I nodded.

"But you can't-"

"Alright." She said, becoming anxious and desperate.

"You have to address the Ministry itself. Or let me do it. I have a way that will sway everyone into accord and you might consider it dark magic but-"

"Malfoy!" She raised her voice, her eyes becoming tinged with red, glossed over. "I do not care. Tell me what needs to be done, and I will do so."

* * *

Avery, Nike, Albus, and I stood at the back of a Wizengamot court room. All of us seemed to be holding our breaths as McGonagall stood up before the Wizengamot, a fair amount of the Ministry, and a mass of parents. Avery held my hand tightly. None of us had seen the proof that Caine's stones actually worked; this would be the first demonstration.

Before her, an angry and well organized parent had taken the stage. Offering her two cents about the matter of Hogwarts.

_How can any parent believe that their child is safe at this administration? After Harry Potter's generation, I was uncomfortable about sending my oldest to Hogwarts. Now with Scorpius Malfoy's generation and two in the building, I am forced to pull my children from this so-called school…_

I stopped listening shortly after, walked out of the room and waited. Avery came and got me ten minutes later, telling me that McGonagall had taken the stage.

"First, I must say that it is incredibly disrespectful, unprofessional, and highly immature that a parent has targeted that of Harry Potter who saved us all in a time of great peril, and second of Scorpius Malfoy who has had clean hands all through-out his years at Hogwarts and I believe that a handful of students would trust him with their life, and if need be, stand behind him in a battle." I watched as she turned the stone in her hand, managing to still keep it out of sight.

"With that said, any child would be much safer at Hogwarts than at their home, which of course will be unprotected by the Ministry. If we assure that the monster is within the walls of Hogwarts, he will sooner be caught there than when he is out in the world, looking in on you sleeping at night, roaming your streets, and picking off of people he has no connection to.

"Aside from the very little knowledge we have about this Zodiac Alliance, we know that half the students on the list are willing to resist power of evil. Though we have yet to confirm the other half dozen's loyalty to the school, you can be sure that there is no greater effort being taken by these six as well as their closest friends. I hope you will take the time to reconsider your previous accusations. Thank you."

She stepped away from the podium and a strange aura filled the room. It was quiet, no counter arguments, no clapping, nothing.

But I knew, with or without the stone, she had set the bar.


	17. The Cancer

Seventeen

Papers such as the Daily Prophet around the wizarding world ran off the next morning with a picture of Avery, Nike, Albus, and I all walking out of the Ministry reading _Wild Youth Kept at Hogwarts, English Witchcraft Academy Accepts Their Fate, _or even going as far as _Dark Lord & his Priestess Defended by Headmaster._ It was unbelievable. But they hadn't all been at the assemblage; they weren't the ones who needed convincing. McGonagall, or the stone, had done the job.

By then it was nearing December and McGonagall had regular night watches done by entrusted seventh years at all of the school's seven exits.

I stood before the foyer doors, reading one of the Prophet's new articles about me. Rita Skeeter had managed to get a picture of Avery and I in Hogwarts the weekend before while we were out to dinner. It was ridiculous in every manner possible.

_Corrupted by his own father's past, Scorpius Malfoy has managed to capture the heart of Avery Potter-Romanox, Cinderella of the Potter family. Confirmed by a close friend of Romanox's, the two started dating their third year_- I smirked, shaking my head; Avery had still been in France when she was thirteen. I hadn't had an interest in girls until I had seen her. -_and have been inseparable ever since, though keeping their relationship under wraps, sure that both fathers would disown their children when the truth came out. When that truth did hit the surface, Malfoy's parents had thrown him to the curb-_

I stopped reading the article with a sigh. I had seen Skeeter lurking outside the restaurant; she had become bloated over the years, her skin beginning to sag beneath her pounds of frosting makeup. Her hair had also started to fall out but that was less noticeable. Her articles became less and less interesting by the day. Rumor had it that she was soon going to be replaced with a young, bitchier columnist. I could hardly wait.

I turned to the sports column to catch up the Quidditch world. Still it really didn't interest me. World news had always bothered me. Everything had been a conspiracy to me since the time I could start to form my own opinion about something. Everything was an idea to me that people bought into; money, politics, laws. People were only following the guidelines to earn a spot in heaven. For a time, even the idea of marriage had been absurd to me; signing a piece of paper just to say that I basically belonged to someone else? I had forgotten about it once the prophecy showed up. I was entitled Wiltshire if my father's will, and if I died, it was then Avery's, only if we were married of course.

"Checking up on the news, dear Scorpius?" A light voice said to me. I looked up and saw Catharina Ward. I swallowed nervously.

"I'll have to report you for wandering the halls, Ward." I said, closing the paper.

"Oh hush, you wouldn't." She leaned up against the wall and grinned at me.

"What are you playing at, Ward?" She eyed me and smirked. "Don't pretend like we're friends."

"I wasn't. We've never been close, have we?"

"No, we haven't."

"Always been respectable to one another, though. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"You know why." She laughed.

"Of course I do." Catharina came from one of the wealthiest families Hogwarts had ever seen and her looks could have been compared to one of the girls you would see in a lingerie magazine. She was lusty, but no guy had ever gotten her to sit down long enough to actually lure her into bed. I had always promised myself that if things didn't end up working out with Avery by my seventh year that I would take a shot on her. Even if things hadn't worked out with Avery, though, the circumstances would have certainly changed.

"The Alliance. But who's really keeping track anymore." She said. "Sam hasn't informed me that I'm actually supposed to be on his side yet." I believed her. Sam wasn't an organized character; he was only doing what was best for him, all the time.

"So why are you here then?" I asked her. She raised an eyebrow, letting the her almond eyes really sparkle.

"Bit lonely, Scorpius. Couldn't sleep, wanted to take a walk around the school, calm my nerves." My mouth became dry at her voice, the way her lips moved. "I am a good person. If I live to see the end of this year, I hope you can recognize that."

"I do recognize that. But you were put on his side for a reason; you steal the hearts of young men and kill them." The corners of her lips turned up and she looked down. I could hear her laughing at me in my head, loudly, and in a sinister way. She then walked up to me and licked the corner of her lips before biting down on the bottom one. My heart raced, fighting my long-lost desire.

"I know you're a lonely soul too, Scorpius." She whispered. "Avery doesn't give you everything a woman should give her man." My stomach turned as I felt her hand below my belt. "Let me relieve you…" She cooed, her lips brushing across my neck. I imagined myself at the Wiltshire Manor on my father's prized leather couch, my head falling back, my eyes in the back of my head as she took me over.

I locked my jaw and grabbed her by the wrist. She pulled her head back, her eyes wide.

"If you don't leave, I _will_ report you." She bit the inside of her cheek and stepped back.

"Who ever knew a Scorpio could pass up a night of lust."

"I have a girlfriend."

"Right. Have a good night reading the Prophet, Scorpius."

* * *

I was troubled by Catharina Ward's presence for the next week and a half. She was in my Charms class and I couldn't ignore her stare when I felt it's heaviness upon me, her dark eyes gazing at me. She was a silent killer. Her sign was related to mine and I couldn't help but think that was why I was so drawn to her.

Then again, there were many similar signs in the Zodiac; the Gemini twins and the twin Piscean fish, the ram and the bull, all of the humans in the Zodiac…they all crossed into one another somehow. For me at least.

I kissed Avery goodbye after dinner that night as she went up north once more. Albus escorted her out as he was going home for the weekend. I went back to the dorm and sat down, buried my face in my palms. The time when Avery and I would fully be united was nearing and I feared greatly, that if anyone were to find out, Sam Finnigan would take her from me. There were so many possibilities that I didn't want to think about. It hurt to know that she was my biggest vulnerability.

I heard a clicking noise and then the slow swooshing of the portrait. I lifted my head, expecting to see Avery again, forgetting something. Then my throat went dry as sandpaper and I knew that I was under attack.

"What are you doing here? How did you get the password?"

"Just calm down please. I don't mean any harm, I just…I needed to talk to you about what happened last week." She looked like she had been crying but I saw through the falseness of it all.

"How did you get the password?" I demanded, standing up and walking to her. She wasn't afraid, though she tried to fake it.

"McGonagall called me to her office a while ago and I saw the list of passwords on her desk. You know, I thought if Sam ever did come to me-"

"That you would sell me and Avery out?" I assumed.

"But I haven't!" She cried. I slammed her up against the wall.

"That was your intention, though, you piece of trash!" She shook her head.

"I was scared, Scorpius. I thought you would be the one to come after us, but Sam- but Sam…" She lost her train of thought as I walked away from her and sat down. I kicked the coffee table towards the fireplace, enraged that she had come to me.

"I didn't mean to say those things to you…" She said quietly. I didn't look at her. "I would never want to cross Avery."

She sat down on the couch and grabbed my face, turning it towards hers.

"But I know you feel the same." She said firmly. Her breathing picked up just slightly, just enough for me to hear and ache over. "I know you're not ready for that kind of commitment."

"Commitment?" I asked. I thought of the marriage, of Sam Finnigan finding out. In my messed up, twisted mind, I thought to myself: _This may be the easiest way._

"You're getting married, aren't you? That's what everyone's been saying."

"No. Are you that thick to believe that I would marry someone at this age?" I swatted her hand away from my face. She thought for a moment. Maybe she was masterminding a plan to truly ruin me. I didn't want to know. "I hardly know myself; why would I try to get to know someone else?"

"You feel the same then?" She asked me. I shook my head, confused; she was absurd. "That you need something more." I stared at her. _I love Avery_,I thought to myself.

I felt her hand on my thigh, soft at first, and then she pushed it slightly. I glanced down then back up at her. She placed her lips next to my ear and breathed, giving me the chills.

"Take me, Scorpius." She whispered. "Be my first." She was, after all this time, a virgin.

She put a hand on the opposite side and ran the tip of her tongue along my neck, then she indulged a little bit more by sinking her teeth into my flesh. Her hand on my neck slowly unbuttoned my shirt and explored underneath. I bit my lip, trying to contain myself as her hands moved lower and she gasped slightly in my ear.

I locked my jaw for a moment as she kissed my cheek softly. "Come on, Scorpius." She pleaded. I shut my eyes for a moment and envisioned Avery's hands entering a bird cage with a single dove inside. And then she was laughing in a field of tall grass. I opened my eyes, grabbed Catharina by the collar and shook her.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" I roared. I stood up, picking her up, and hurled her against the wall. I grabbed my wand out of my pocket, again grabbed Catharina by the collar and turned her onto her stomach, holding her down by the back of the neck. She began to cry and shout for help. I dragged my wand from her shoulder to her opposite hip. Only a moment later, she cried out in agony and blots of blood began to stain her shirt.

"You think you could play me for a fool, Ward?" I asked."HUH?" I lifted my hand from her neck. She got to her feet as quickly as possible and went for the door, but stopped and looked at me. "I know Sam set you up."

"I'll tell him you raped me, Malfoy. I'll tell everyone." She threatened. "And then your princess will leave you."

"I made it quite clear I could care less about the girl." I said calmly. "Anyway, it's not like anyone would believe you. We all know how much of a whore you really are, even if you are a virgin." She looked like she was going to be sick.

"We'll see how much you care about her once I've got Sam after her. He can't kill you, but…he's made it _quite clear_ than he can kill others." I stepped towards her, grabbed her by the throat and pointed my wand at her chest.

"You've got it wrong; we _can_ kill one another at the price of our own lives. If I didn't want to see how this all played out, you would be the first to go."

"You're a monster." She told me, beads of sweat collecting at her hairline. I laughed in her face.

"Aren't we all, Catharina!" I felt my face grow grimacing evil. "Why don't you go get that secret sucked out of your body by the doctor?" Her eyes grew wide, ashamed, and horrified. She trembled beneath my grip. "You're no virgin. Finnigan left you for Evada." How I knew this, I wasn't sure, but something ticked inside my brain like a clock, feeding me all the information I needed to know about Catharina Ward; her pill-popping mother, her dying sister, her cheating father, and the product of rape growing inside her.

"Get out." I demanded through clenched teeth. I let her go and watched her disappear behind the portrait door.

* * *

I was unbalanced now. What rage I had repressed for so many years against all the students at Hogwarts who had degraded me for so long had been unleashed that night and was running from me, sprinting away from me like a rabid dog. For Avery, I had held it together. But in that night, for my sake, my wrath was taking shape.

The Scorpio, the most intense and powerful sign of the Zodiac, was the most feared enemy of the rest of the Zodiac. I was an undeniably loyal character to my friends, distracted by lust, but overcome with the sensitivity of being in love with someone which prompted me to be self-destructive and obviously violent to others. I was always a jealous child, though I couldn't bear to admit it. My envy ate me alive most days, and as my pride was getting torn up I was remembering all the little reasons I hated people for.

I was the symbol of death, the everlasting reminder that we all were on the brink of death. We were not in a circle of life, the way I saw it; we were always directed on a path and on day that path, that line, would just end. The way I saw it, you fell into an eternity of darkness after you died. You didn't go on to any heaven. If you were exceptionally pure, you were granted an eternal life in this world. I believed that heaven came before life and you were granted human shape after your days in heaven were up. Then you lived this thing called life, you searched for goals, and then- then you died.

I was set ablaze and it would become apparent to everyone soon enough. I was forever alive. I was the Scorpio.


	18. A Demigod

Eighteen

I laid in bed all the next day, falling in and out of sleep. It was night once more by the time the portrait door creaked open. I heard a sigh, as if she was disappointed in the mess I had made of the common room. I heard her sway into her own room and then the beginning of a soft sob. I got up from my bed, summoned all the furniture in the common room to go back to its original spot, and went to her. She was lying down in her bed, her face swollen with sadness. I stood in the doorway, studying the scene. She looked up at me and then sat up, biting her lip.

"It's not true is it?" She asked me gently. I swallowed.

"Of course not. I'd never hurt you." She blinked, her glistening eyes slightly bloodshot. Her lower lip trembled for a second. "I love you." I said quietly. It was the first time that either of us had ever dropped the word so it had to mean something. The way both of us saw our relationship was that we didn't need to put an official date and time and label on us, that there were no words for the way we were feeling. The marriage would be for safety, for no regrets. This was different, though. In my time of darkness, she was the only light I saw, crystallizing and creating colors before my eyes.

"I love you…" She whispered.

* * *

Avery and I sat at breakfast the next morning as the owls came in with the morning mail and papers and gifts. An issue of the Prophet fell before me, a picture of Nike on the front page, standing in between her parents. I grabbed it and unfolded it right away; _Norina Shacklebolt Murdered._ I felt my heart stop and the paper fell from my hand onto the table. Avery grabbed it and began reading it. She was horrified by the contents of the article.

"My God," She whispered. I looked around the Great Hall, and it felt as if I was getting a glare from everyone. None of the others in the Alliance were there. Avery lowered the paper and looked at me. "They think it has something to do with the Zodiac." I looked at her.

"It does. Isn't it obvious? Sam Finnigan is targeting family members. He chose the Shacklebolts first because Nike's father is the Minister."

"I don't think that's the reason, Scorpius." Avery said quietly. "The attack on the Forbidden Forest was Fiend fire, made to look like Nike did it. This is made to look like Nike's killed her mum. If you read the article…"

"Nike won't be back until after the holiday." I said. "Caine will be with her I presume."

"No, I saw Nike this morning. Before you woke up, I went to go bring a paper to Pucey. She was going upstairs…" She trailed off thinking about the encounter. Then she remembered. "In fact I remember her saying she was going to the Astronomy tower."

Avery and I hurried up to the Astronomy tower. Through the windows we saw Nike and Professor Achilles arguing with one another. I stepped into the room without thinking to linger back to hear what they might have been saying. But it really didn't matter anymore; it was obvious that Nike and Achilles had some former relationship before the Astronomy professor was granted her position.

"What do you know?" I asked Achilles, pointing my wand at her.

"Scorpius…" Avery said. "That's a professor. Lower your wand."

"No, she's been lying to us." Nike was full of rage, but it appeared she had been crying. "This whole time, telling us we can trust her. McGonagall didn't hire you."

"Then who did?" Avery asked. I narrowed my eyes for a moment and then I questioned Nike.

"Who hired her, Nike?" I asked. Nike looked down, ashamed for some reason.

"The Minister hired me, Mr. Malfoy." Melaina Achilles said. I turned my dark stare at her. "I don't specialize in Astronomy as Miss Romanox might have noticed during our late night classes. I am an Auror, specializing with children and teenagers. I excelled in Astronomy, that's why Mr. Shacklebolt thought I would be best for the job. Either way, he would have hired an Auror." She paused and looked at the papers on her desk.

"And what was it that you were talking about just now?" I asked.

"Whether or not Nike should leave to mourn or stay."

"The decision?"

"The Minister doesn't want her to leave. He fears it's too dangerous."

"Nike can't get killed-" Avery began.

"Not for her safety, for _his_."

"And so what, you have some relationship with the Minister?" I said.

"The Minister has asked that I keep a watchful eye on Nike."

"How can we be sure you're not lying this time?" Avery asked. Achilles looked up and then at Nike who still had her head down. After a moment she looked at me. She struggled to find the appropriate words. Avery stepped in front of me and made me lower my wand. She looked at Achilles, though, as if she recognized her from somewhere.

"Holy shit," Avery said. She then began to smile and her eyes grew large. The professor looked at her. "It's true then?"

"What's true?" I asked, looking at all three women. They all knew now. Avery looked back at me, smiling.

"Achilles." Avery said, her eyes shining. She shook her head, not believing whatever epiphany she had just had. "It was always a legend about the demigods, that's why none of them are in the Halls. Achilles was never a god because his heel wasn't dipped in the river. You really are the last demigod." She said, turning to the professor. I felt my brow become hard and confused against my eyes.

"A _demigod_?" I asked.

"Melaina _Achilles._ She's the descendant-" Avery began.

"I am the _daughter_ of Achilles. I was born a human but given my actions, the Abraxus people granted me the demigod status."

"Your actions?" I questioned.

"She saved the Abraxons, she sacrificed her own to let us live. Without her, I wouldn't even exist!" Avery said, becoming more excited than I had ever seen her. Achilles could see the horror in my eyes.

"It's a much darker story as you have probably already noted. I don't like to go into it. There are good reasons to trust me, Scorpius. I have the ins and the outs of the Ministry at hand."

"So do Nike and Avery."

"It's not the same." Nike said quietly. She lifted her eyes to look at me. "They've recently shut down the Space Chamber. Achilles is the only person they allow inside."

"Why is that?"

"All gods are written into the stars, such as all the signs of the Zodiac." Avery answered me. "But it doesn't make sense. Why would they shut down the Space Chamber?"

"It's not the only part of the Ministry they've recently shut down." Nike said. "The whole damn Department of Mysteries is shut down except for the Hall of Prophecies. Each chamber was given a secret keeper and Achilles happens to be the secret keeper of the Space Chamber."

"But why?" Avery asked again. Nike looked at Achilles for the answer. Melaina looked down at her desk once more, swallowed and parted her lips but said nothing.

"TELL US GODDAMNIT!" I bellowed. Achilles looked up at me. The door to the astronomy class room slammed behind us all, making us three students jump. Achilles licked her lips as the curtains in the room closed and as the candles extinguished.

"You don't understand what forces you're working with, Malfoy." Achilles said, her voice resounding in the room. The ceiling above us cracked, covering us in dust. I looked at Nike who had apparently seen this before as she was unaffected by the sight. I held out my arm against Avery as I looked back up at the ceiling; a large orb was forming and would drop any moment from its place above. Avery grabbed onto my arm, frightened, and we backed up into the nearest wall to watch that orb along with several others float within the room.

"You are being granted all the power within the Department of Mysteries, Scorpius Malfoy." Nike was beginning to seem worried. I looked at Achilles whose eyes were glowing the brightest blue. "In time you will find that you not only control the stars and heavens, but time, emotion, and death. You worry so much that you have no power, but in reality, you control every aspect of life." The orbs lowered into the classroom and began revolving around the biggest orb, slowly at first. I looked at Avery who was beyond amazed, beyond frightened, but filled with a genuine curiosity to know more.

"The Chambers have been closed for fear that you may break in."

"Why would I break in?" I asked.

"The powers of the Chambers have all come to a head finally." The orbs began to spin faster, picking up Avery's hair and dancing with it in the breeze. After a moment, the orbs started to burst, all of them but twelve. I recognized Pluto, the smallest out of all of them, the brightest. And finally, one by one, all of the planets began to burst. The glow in Achilles' eyes faded and the ceiling repaired itself.

"Should you take the initiative to gather the knowledge of those Chambers, you will have only one choice in your life left to make. The choice to let the innocent go or to infect the last of humanity." I shook my head.

"I don't understand." I saw Nike, her lower lip trembling.

"You are the last god, Scorpius!" Nike yelled, tears running down her cheeks. I blinked and felt Avery let go of me. She looked at me, her curiosity shifting into suspicion.

"Gods don't exist." I said. "It was all Greek mythology." Avery shook her head.

"No, gods were here before wizards and witches, before Elves." Avery said quietly.

"Gods are the reason why witchcraft exists. Witches and wizards are just descendant hybrid forms of gods. Do you understand, Scorpius?"

"No, I don't! I would have to have gods for parents; I am _not_ a god."

"Yes you are." Avery said very quietly, almost whispering to herself. "You were deemed one when I brought you up north. I should have realized." She looked at Achilles. "Athena gave him her spear, called him a titan." I looked at Achilles as well who had a small smirk stretching across her lips.

"That doesn't mean…" I began.

"Yes it does." The professor said gently. I looked at Nike.

"You've known this all along? That I'm some kind of god?"

"No, I figured it out for myself when my father told me they were shutting down the Chambers." She confessed.

"You're the most dangerous man on the planet." Achilles said. "Keep quiet about this, though. If anyone finds out the truth of your existence, sacrifices will be made."

"Sacrifices on the Alliance?"

"Not only that. Think of the most precious person in your life, the person you hold dearest to your heart." I looked at Avery. "Millions will want your head on a stake, Scorpius. They're going to do anything to manipulate you, as Sinistra may have suggested."

"But I'm not a goddamn titan or god or whatever the fuck you want to call it!" I yelled.

"That's where you're wrong, Scorpius. Believe me. This will all make sense in time. Now I must ask you all to leave, go back to your dormitory, stay in and stay safe. I have work to do." I swallowed angrily, burst out of her room with the two girls following behind me. As we walked past everyone, they all seemed to stare at me, to realize that I wasn't really Scorpius Malfoy anymore, that I was something different.

I felt Avery's small fingers try to grab a hold of my own but I didn't even respond to that. She followed me inside the dorm, Nike behind her. Inside were the rest of our colleagues. I looked at all of them; why were they there? Couldn't they give me one hour to myself? I had no time to really think anymore. I was always bombarded by questions.

Albus stood up and looked at Nike.

"Why are you still here?" He asked her.

"I was instructed to stay here." She answered. I looked at Caine who hadn't stood up in her presence. Then I looked back at Albus. I realized that there was something else going on in the room that I hadn't been informed about.

And the images came to me, like thuds on my chest, and the swelling in my throat.

"_I'm sorry about Quidditch, Al."_ Nike said, walking towards me in the dark library. It was after hours. He looked at her, but he wasn't angry with her.

"_It's okay. That was a while ago, and besides, I think Sam was angrier than I was anyway."_

"_Right, well Sam and I never really got along to begin with."_ And then I caught a glance of my common room again; all of them were staring at me, as if I was having a fit. The scene changed again, taking me to Albus knocking on Nike's bedroom door before they had to give up their Head dorms.

"_You shouldn't be here," _Nike said quietly as she let him in.

"_I wanted to see you again."_

"_I'm about to go out with Caine, Al."_ Again, the scene changed; they were making love in the Shrieking Shack. I came out of it, feeling my back hit the wall. I looked at Nike, wide eyed, feeling some sort of betrayal in my bones. I tilted my head and scoffed.

"What are you playing at?" Nike asked, suspicion in her eyes.

"What are _you_ playing at?" I asked, standing up straight. I then looked at Albus who knew he had been caught. He looked at Nike and I could tell he had grown nervous within the past few seconds. I looked at Caine who was somewhat oblivious to it all. He and Nike had grown distant in the past weeks.

I looked at Avery, who I loved so dearly. I wouldn't expose the two only to save the group from corruption.

"I think you all should leave." I said. Meredith stood up, furrowing her brow.

"We need to know what to do, Scorpius." She said to me. I had nothing to say.

"Just stay together. Where ever you go." Avery said. "Don't let anyone go off by their selves." They all got up and filed out one by one, and I knew they would all ask each other what was wrong once they were out of earshot.

Avery and I stared at each other.

"Nike and Albus are sneaking around." I said to her.

"How…" She started, unsure about the topic. "How do you know?"

"I just do." Avery came to me, put my face in her hands and stared into my eyes, worried.

"I know what needs to be done, Scorpius." She told me. "We need to get into those chambers." I nodded and then kissed her, hungrily.

In a world of chaos, I was sure I only had her.


	19. Navigating the Department of Mysteries

Nineteen

I sat around the coffee table with Avery at my side, Nike on my other, and Dev in one of the living chairs. I figured if anyone could help, it would be him. Dev knew how most enchantments in the wizarding world knew. He knew how to go about any lock, how to navigate any compass, how to think on his feet. In front of the four of us was a drawn out map of the Ministry. Nike knew most of the new guards around and knew that they had put up plenty of new doors and such to keep out invaders.

"This is a really bad idea." Nike said. "If they catch you, Scorpius-"

"No, you know what a bad idea is, Nike? The fact that you thought it was okay to go and fuck Avery's brother while you're supposed to be seeing Caine." All of them were stunned at my harsh tone towards the girl. I had valued our relationship for the past couple months and now I was treating her like a dog.

Nike raised her brow and sighed. "And how did you find out about that?"

"It doesn't really matter if it's the truth, right?"

"All I was saying is that if they catch you, you'll be put in Azkaban for the rest of your life. They specifically set up all of these precautions to keep _you_ out."

"And they set it up like a beckoning." I said. She said nothing, but looked down, ashamed. "Now tell me how we're going to get in unnoticed."

Again, Nike sighed and threw a hand up in the air. "I would suggest going through the Floo Network first, but disguising yourself beforehand. Naturally, a Polyjuice potion will wear off in an hour, so you'd have to be fast about this."

"I can't undo all those locks under an hour." Dev said.

"It's not only the locks you have to worry about. It's practically a labyrinth down there now." Nike said.

"What if we brought two different sets of Polyjuice, two for each of us?" I asked. "One to get down there, one to get back up." Nike scratched her head.

"I don't see why not. But that's a hell of a lot of Polyjuice potion, Scorpius. Where are you gonna manage to find all of that before holiday? You are doing this before holiday, right?"

"Well yes. I thought we could brew some up-"

"It takes a month to conjure." Dev said.

"Shit," I muttered.

"We don't need Polyjuice potion." Avery said confidently. We all looked at her. She stared at the map. "Caine made a stone for shape shifting."

"He only made one, though." Nike said.

"You don't have to hold the stone to have a consistent amount of power. Caine didn't design the stones to have a time limit on them." Avery corrected her.

"How would you know?" Nike questioned. Avery lifted her eyes to look at her.

"The stones were in _my_ jewelry box." I looked at Dev.

"I guess the next question is, which fireplace do we use to get out of here and into the Ministry?" He asked. "The only ones are in the professors' living quarters."

"Sinistra wouldn't let us if she's secret keeper." I said.

"No, but McGonagall would." Avery said, making another fairly obvious point to me. _What must be done?_

I looked at all of them quickly and then back at the map. "I think we have a shot at doing this." I said quietly.

* * *

Dev, Avery, and I sat before McGonagall's desk a week later, the stone heavy in my pants pocket. McGonagall had a stern and mistrusting look on her face.

"And Miss Shacklebolt won't be going with you?" McGonagall asked.

"I thought it might be best that she stay here. Just in case something were to happen." I replied. She was under the impression that we were going to talk to Kinglsey Shacklebolt about all of the articles in the paper.

"And you replaced her with Mr. Parkinson for what reason? He's not a part of the Alliance."

"No but he is a friend who _can_ be quoted." Avery said and I could tell by the breath in her voice that she was getting impatient. "I trust him just as much as I trust Scorpius." McGonagall considered the untruthful fact which Avery had presented.

"When can I expect you back?" She asked.

"Before dinner of course." I looked at my watch. It was noon. Surely that would be enough time.

McGonagall led us to her fireplace which was roaring with a winter blaze. She doused it and then looked at me first. We hadn't expected her to be around while we shape shifted. I looked at Avery who apparently wanted me to go first as well. I stepped into the fireplace, put one hand in my pocket, and reached for the Floo powder with the other.

"Ministry of Magic." I said, dropping the powder before me and feeling the stone, picturing Harry Potter in his finest and most devious looking manner. I appeared in the Ministry, hundreds of wizards and witches coming and going. Avery then came after, and Dev following her arrival. Avery got close to me as we began walking.

"What are we supposed to do now, Scorpius?" She asked hastily.

"You take the stone, go into the bathroom, and hand it off to Dev as soon as you come back." I pulled it from my pocket and pushed it into Avery's hands. She hurried to the bathroom and Dev and I continued to walk, following her. He was calm, but looking around to make sure no one suspected anything of him. We passed the women's lavatory as Melaina Achilles walked out. She handed the stone off to Dev and he walked into the bathroom. Avery and I continued walking towards the elevators.

"This is the worst idea you have _ever_ come up with." Avery whispered to me.

"It's damn exciting, though, don't you think?" In another second, another man appeared on Avery's side, dressed sharply in all black. His hair was dark and he had a bit of a goatee.

"And who are you?" Avery whispered.

"Don't worry about it, doll." He replied.

We got into the first available elevator and Avery pressed the Level 9 button, closing off the elevator to at least three others who wanted to board with us. We watched them as they gave us dirty looks. They disappeared, though, as the elevator dropped into all the levels.

"Your wand at the ready then, Mr. Doe?" I asked. Dev smirked.

"Do I know you?" He asked. I grinned and then felt a sharp elbow to my ribs.

"Wotcher, love. Fancy a drink later?" Avery looked back at me, glaring at me. Achilles eyes dark, almost black. "Always wondered what it would be like to shag a professor." Dev chuckled.

"Stop it." Avery demanded and she turned back around as our elevator came to a stop. We were at the ghostly Department of Mysteries. The elevator rung and opened its doors. We stepped out and looked around at the black hallway. It had bits and pieces of trash lying around.

"You think we should stop the lifts for the time being?" Dev asked. I looked back at him and watched as the multiple elevators dropped and lifted. "Just in case?"

"What, like a technical difficulty of some sort?" Avery asked. Dev nodded. Avery held out her hand for a moment before a white orb formed above her palm. She then sent the orb towards the lifts and all we heard was an explosion. "That should keep them in one place for a bit. Now hurry."

We walked towards the end of the corridor where we came to our first dilemma. It was locked of course, and a simple "alohamora" wasn't going to do the trick. Dev got down on one knee and looked through the keyhole of the door. I admired my friend mostly for his puzzle-solving skills. If he wanted to, he could be a great thief someday. But I never suggested that of course. He groaned.

"Can you manage?" Avery asked.

"Yes, but I don't see why you couldn't have blown up all the doors we have to go through. You do have that power, don't you?"

"Well it's a fair question, but I have a feeling the Ministry will be alerted that way. We don't want to cause a stir, now do we?"

Dev took his wand out of his pocket and while looking through the keyhole, his wand shifted to look like a key, but a very long key, with different bits and valleys that went on for at least seven inches. He stood up and inserted the key into the lock. The door opened easily and we were allowed in without any kind of alert system.

Dev shut the door behind him and we found ourselves surrounded by mirrors.

"Jesus," I breathed. "Do you think they can see us through these?"

"No," Dev said. "They're enchanted. Polyjuice potion wouldn't have worked here; those mirrors would have showed the difference."

We came to another set of three doors. Dev kneeled in front of all of them, inspecting the locks and perhaps what was beyond the locks. He turned to the door on our right and began counting to himself, his wand forming a new key.

"How do you know we're going the right way?" I asked.

"I don't. We're going to have to open all three of them." And that he did in a matter of minutes. Outside of the third door was what appeared to be some sort of beach with a decaying castle at the end. In front of the middle door was another long hallway with mirrors. The first door showed a dark, descending staircase. Dev closed the middle door.

"We'll be going in circles if we go down that one." We looked out the third door, questioning what was inside the castle. "We should have brought another person. We could have split up."

"No, that wouldn't have done any good." Avery said, squinting her eyes to get a better look at the castle. "One of the pairs would have had to play the waiting game when they realized they weren't in the actual chambers.

"I don't trust that place." I said and closed the third door. "If that's the right one, we'll have to come back." Dev looked disappointed almost.

"You have to think about these long and hard, Scorpius."

"We don't have the time." I said and led them down the stairs, Avery shutting the door behind us. We were confronted with three hallways that each had three doors at the end of them. We stood for a moment, unsure where to go first. Avery sighed.

"Pick a hallway." Avery said. We picked the middle and when it came down to it, we picked the middle door. Again we came to more hallways, more doors. It went on forever it seemed. I wasn't sure if we would be able to get out or not. Avery said she had kept track of all the turns we made and which door was which.

Finally we came to a circular room where there were twelve doors, all without handles.

"This is the original room." Avery said. "Harry knew which door to go through to get to the Hall of Prophecy, but…which door to the other chambers?"

"How do you ever open them? Look at the locks on these things, Ave." I said, approaching one of them. The lock was built on the front of the door with different gears and apparatuses on each one. Dev approached the same door and realized that his wand was not just going to have to turn into a key to get it open.

"What should we do?" Avery asked. "We only have a guarantee into the Space Chamber with Achilles…" She said and then trailed off as a door began to click and tick, its mechanisms moving all which ways. We turned and watched as the door began to unlock itself. The sounds were eerie, creating a sense of guilt that we were definitely not supposed to be there.

Dev walked over and inspected the lock more clearly.

"It's a puzzle." He said quietly. "All the rest of the gears in the room fit in this lock to open." I looked at all the rest of the doors and then back at Dev.

"Are you kidding me? Just to unlock one door will take hours." I said. Dev looked back. "We just spent an hour getting to this one spot."

"Don't jump the gun, Scorpius. I can figure this out." He said. He studied the door for only a second more and then began extracting the block-like pieces from other doors and inserting them into the puzzle. It took him only twenty minutes to do so. Once that was done, nothing happened.

"Really?" I said. "REALLY!"

"Scorpius, be quiet." Avery said. And just then the door began to quiver, all the pieces falling out of their places. A golden handle formed in the middle of the door. Dev looked back at me, his brow cocked.

"_Really_, Scorpius." He said. He turned the handle and pushed the door open. Inside was a small square room which I knew would not be the Space Chamber, but another puzzle to complete before our destination.

It was empty and for a moment, I thought that Dev may have messed up once more. But he was staring up at the ceiling, at the light which was only a light bulb hanging on a cord. It had no on or off switch, no string to pull to make the light disappear.

"Nox." Dev said simply. The light bulb extinguished and then another door appeared, this time below our feet. It was glowing, though. I looked at Dev; he had figured out how to get into the Space Chamber.

I opened the door and descended down into the Chamber which was slightly cooler than the room above. But it was magnificent. It was dark but full of illuminated spheres otherwise known as planets and stars. Avery gasped as she came down beside me, her eyes full of wonderment. Dev stood on the other side of her.

"What now?" Avery asked.

"Ask for a constellation." Dev proposed. I looked into the sky.

"Show me Scorpio." Every other planet and star darkened and showed only fifteen stars. I grinned. "Do you reckon I could write Achilles into the stars?" Avery looked up at me and nodded. I looked back at the miniature but to scale sky. "Make a constellation for Melaina Achilles, a beacon of sacrifice."

The sky darkened completely and then small bursts of light came, followed by orbs which all circled one another before settling down in one spot. Dev lifted his wand and cast a line to connect the dots. The constellation formed a figure with its arms outstretched above its head and its hands together, giving to the sky.

"I have power over the sky then?" I asked. Avery nodded.

"I would imagine that was what Achilles was talking about." Avery said. "You can make any constellation you wish and any story can be immortal that way."

"Not just constellations." Dev said. "The weather, Scorpius. Right now, the world is just going through the motions that are set in stone, but I bet if you wanted to, you could make it rain right now." I thought for a moment and it seemed to make sense. Thunder, snow, clouds; they were all in the sky.

Dev checked his watch in what little light he head. I knew it was time to get to the next chamber.

"We've been in the Department of Mysteries for two hours. Dinner starts in three." He said. Avery and I followed him up the stairs, into the dark room, and shut the door. Dev illuminated the light bulb once more and then exited out the door we had come from. Once the door was shut, all the doors pulled back and new doors came into place.

"What next?" Dev asked, watching the doors rearrange themselves.

"The Time Chamber." I said. A nearby door began shuffling its lock. Dev went to it and ran his course of studying the gears. He then got started on solving the puzzle. It took him longer, this time however, almost twenty minutes longer. Finally when he did open it up, the room behind the door was filled with hundreds of thousands of wristwatches all pushed against the walls with a huge pile in the middle of the room. I questioned how Dev would solve this one. Avery looked around, beginning to worry about what our task was.

Dev picked up one watch and looked at the face. He then picked up several more, studying their faces. I picked up one and looked at it. The hands weren't moving. Dev and I looked at one another at the same time, realizing that we needed to find the only working watch in the room.

"Avery start looking for a watch that's working." I commanded her. She stared at me, though, her eyes wide.

"Do you realize how long this is going to take, Scorpius? We could be in this room for days."

"Well we don't really have time for that, do we?" I asked her.

Indeed, we were in there for what felt like hours, but every time Dev had checked his watch, only minutes had passed. Avery gasped after a while of silence. I looked over from my corner of the room; Dev continued searching.

"There's a grandfather clock underneath all of this." She said, standing up and backing away. Dev and I both went to her and began moving all of the watches that were on top of it. We picked it up by the base and stood it on its feet. Its hands weren't moving either. I sighed, feeling defeated, feeling like I just wanted to go back to the school.

"Fuck," Dev muttered. And then it chimed, making all of us jump. We looked at the face as the hands started racing to the actual time. When it came to the time, the hands stopped once more and the glass door in front of the chimes opened, the chimes being pulled up into the top of the clock.

"It's a door." I said, my heart racing with excitement. I stepped in through the cramped space into darkness and then extended my hand to Avery. She came through, holding Dev's hand, and he came through as well.

We stood there for a moment before Dev illuminated his wand. Around us were millions of different types of clocks from hourglasses to digital clocks. We turned to see a large bell jar which I had known to be filled with light. I put my hand to the glass and electricity pulsated through my fingertips as sparkles of light gathered on the other side of my hands. The other two watched, amazed. At that same moment, I could hear clocks begin to tick, all of them in synch with one another. As seconds passed, more clocks began to tick, the sound reverberating off the walls and onto our bodies like a heartbeat.

"Make the time go backwards," Avery breathed, and as I thought about it, the ticking slowed and then picked back up again. Avery walked off in the direction of an hour glass and watched, her eyes glowing. The sand was defying gravity and slowly but surely going back to the top of the glass. "Speed it up again." And I did so. Dev walked to Avery's side and watched, then went to a more modern clock where the numbers were changing at lightning speed.

"Scorpius take your hands off of it for a moment." Dev said. I did so and the light in the bell jar stayed and the clocks continued to tick. Dev smiled and looked back at me. "You're manipulating time. Do you realize what you could do with that? If you turned back all the clocks in the world, we could have four extra hours of sleep." I laughed. I wondered if I could further my manipulation of time and do what Helena did. Then again, I didn't dwell on the thought; she was part of my alliance.

Dev went through the process of solving another lock puzzle once more, this time for the Thought Chamber. The small room behind that door contained shelves of diaries that had not been written in. The task was simple; find the book that had something written in it. But again there were so many books that I felt it was going to be impossible.

Time lingered on in real life and in the back of my mind. I considered slowing the clocks at Hogwarts to allow us more time before dinner.

"Dev, what time is it?" I asked. He looked at his watch.

"You tell me. The hands on my watch have only moved ten seconds since I last checked about five minutes ago." I smirked, grabbing a diary on the top shelf. I opened it up and flipped through all the pages. It was near the middle that I caught a glimpse of the dark writing. I stopped flipping through and went back only a few pages.

"_Tell me_," I read aloud. Avery turned as well as Dev, walking towards me and dropping their books on the way.

"That's an easy one." Avery said. "Tell me your thoughts." I looked at her as the shelves began to rumbled and pull apart, sliding into corridors on the walls. There was a door behind them and we went inside to the room that was only lit by the peculiar glow of the tanks the chamber stored.

The tanks each held what looked to be brains with tendril coming out from the bottom. The sight irked me as we walked by many of the tanks. I heard Avery scoff and then something that resembled the sound of being slapped.

"Scorpius!" Avery shouted. I turned around, taking my wand out. One of the tendrils had grabbed her around the wrist and then another around the throat. Dev took his wand out as well and began to cast spells on the tendrils but it didn't work. I burst the tank behind Avery, shards of glass flying everywhere, and then green liquid spilling onto the floor, leaving the brains squirming at the bottom of the tank. Avery cried as the tendrils grew tighter around her throat. I looked at my wand, feeling helpless, but then realized that I was not holding a wand anymore. I took the knife that was in my hand and cut Avery loose from the tendrils, and threw the brains down the aisle. Avery clung to me, and I recognized how much smaller she was in the form of Achilles.

"What are they?" Dev asked

"I could hear people talking." Avery said. "It was like they were thinking."

"Thoughts," I said quietly. I took the knife in my hand and waved it in the air, switching it back to my wand. I put the tip in one of the tanks. Dev walked up to the tank and put his arm in, letting the tendrils take hold of him. His eyes grew large.

"They're all thinking about time, about how slow the day is going by. I don't believe this," Dev exclaimed. "Is that what you're thinking about, Scorpius, the time?" I grinned and nodded. "Groups of people are thinking about what you're thinking about. Take your wand out." I did so and the tendrils became more aggressive towards Dev, slinking up his arm and constricting him. I put my wand back in and they loosened up and then finally let go.

"When you took your wand out they all started thinking about different things, but then when you put it back it, they started thinking about it again." I looked at Avery who was still frightened by the tendrils.

As time moved at the slow pace, Dev became quicker with the lock puzzles, breaking into the Death Chamber in nearly ten minutes. We found ourselves faced with a filing cabinet in the square room behind the door. I pulled the filing cabinet open to see only one file at the bottom of the drawer. I picked it up, opened the file and saw a list of twelve names. At the top of the list was only one word; _Suicide_.

I looked at my two accomplices, confused, startled. Dev walked towards me, taking the file. He was bewildered as well, unsure what the puzzle was.

"I don't understand." Dev said. He looked up at the ceiling, felt the walls and the floor, trying to find anything to might lead to a door. "Scorpius, open that bottom drawer." I did as I was told but nothing was inside. Dev came over and began to yank on the bottom drawer, pulling as hard as he could. He groaned, finding no success.

"Back away." Avery said. Dev looked back, annoyed almost. I pushed Dev away from the filing cabinet.

"Bombarda!" Avery yelled, casting a white light on the cabinet. Not only did the cabinet blow up but it also gave way to a hole in the wall. Right then, I realized that we had just made mountainous mistakes. The next person to visit the Time, Thought, and Death chamber would all realize that there had been a break in by the mess we had left.

I hurried through the hole, Dev and Avery close behind me. I found myself looking down at the veil which I had heard about for many years. We descended down the tiers and walked towards the veil. As I neared the veil, I heard thousands of voices calling to be pulled back through the veil.

_Please, Scorpius, just come through and save me. _A woman was calling to me and I was horrified. I pulled the black curtain from the veil and looked onto the other side to see ghosts, too many to possibly count. I looked back at Avery.

"Can you see them?" I asked. She shook her head. Dev also shook his. I stepped towards the veil but felt Avery's arm on mine.

"You can't go through there, Scorpius. You'll die."

"Trust me." I said and she let go to watch me walk through the veil, first putting my arm inside. My arm did not go gray as I had expected but stayed the same. I walked in, feeling the breeze as the ghosts whirred around me, all circling the room, all crying. But one ghost in particular stopped its orbit around the room and came towards me. I knew it only to be the ghost of Norina Shacklebolt. She held out a locket of some sort, gray and transparent.

"_Take this to Nike,_" Norina asked.

"I don't think I really can, Mrs. Shacklebolt. Who killed you?"

"_You already know the answer. Take it, please._" I reached out for the necklace and as soon as I touched it the chain and locket became solid and heavy in my grip. I stared at the necklace and then stepped back through the veil. I turned and saw Nike's eyes wide and glossed over with tears. I handed her the locket, baffled by what had just happened.

"Sam Finnigan killed her." I said as Avery studied the locket. She opened it and a tear slid down her cheek. Nike's picture along with Norina's were in the locket. "What time is it, Dev?" He checked his watch.

"I don't know anymore. I would say a half hour until dinner." We ran back to the circular room and I ignored the mess. If the Ministry really didn't want me to break in, they would have organized more expert magic in order to ensure that I would not get inside the chambers.

I slowed time down as much as I could, checking my own watch to see that with every minute, only a second passed. Dev got to work on the last puzzle which was ultimately the hardest for him. Every piece came within a centimeter of being the right one.

"Do you think we're the only ones who can feel the real time?" Avery asked. I hadn't thought about it.

"Yes." Dev answered. "I believe that everything else will be moving in slow motion when we get out of here." And then we heard a door slam, as if someone were coming through one of the many hallways to get to the circular room. I looked at Avery who was growing more intimidated.

"Except those who may have Time Turners in their possession." Dev said. I looked at him as he placed the last piece on the lock. The door began to quake and with that all the pieces fell out. Inside the room was another very large puzzle for Dev to figure out. It was one wall with the same lock system that all the doors in the circular room had. Dev looked up as if he had just suffered some kind of a heart attack. All the pieces, which were much bigger than the twelve doors, rested against the walls of the room.

Avery and I began to assist Dev in putting the pieces in place, going as fast as we could in order to avoid whoever it was that was coming down to the Chambers. It took nearly an hour before we heard the single click and then the wall swung open to the Love Chamber which had always been locked.

There was a fountain in which we ran to. It was overflowing, steam rising from the puddles on the ground. I only needed to know how to control it and the only thing that told me how to do so was the Though Chamber. I stuck my wand tip in the liquid and it began to turn red.

Avery touched her fingertip into the fountain and her eyes sparkled.

"Am I making people fall in love with me?" I joked.

"Hardly." Dev said who also had his hand in the fountain. "You're making people fall in love with _each other_." He said, looking at me. He glanced at Avery quickly and I took the tip of my wand out of the liquid at once.

"It's time to go." I said. Avery shot me a look, unsure at why I wanted to leave so soon. "Someone's coming. The Ministry fixed the lifts an hour ago. They know someone's broken in."

We ran out of the Chamber and through the puzzle room, into the circular room where Avery led us through the door down the dark hallway. As she ran in front of me I noticed that her hair was beginning to grow longer and she even looked as if she was beginning to get taller. I turned back and saw that Dev's features were slowly changing.

"Scorpius, your hair!" Dev said.

"Give me the stone." I said. Dev reached into his pocket and then stopped in his tracks. I stopped, several yards in front of him and then Avery stopped before a door. She looked back as Dev searched himself for the stone.

"Come on, what's going on, Dev?" Avery asked. Dev looked up, his face turning white. I walked towards him, taking him by the arms and shaking him.

"WHERE IS THE STONE, DEV?" I roared. And at that moment it fell to the ground. Perhaps there was a hole in his pocket; I didn't care to linger on the subject long enough to chat about it. I picked up the stone, willing myself to stay in the form of Harry Potter.

"It's not working." Dev said, shaking his head. "Your hair is still turning blonde." I looked at Avery.

"Come on, we don't have time." Avery prompted us. We followed her once more through the labyrinth of hallways and doors, believing that she knew exactly where she was going, like a force was pulling her in the right direction. But she stopped when she came to a door with two others on either side. I saw her mouthing "right" and "left" and "hallway," thinking hard about the number of doors we had gone through. And then there was the slam of another door and some shouting, people saying they were getting closer to us.

"COME ON, AVERY!" I bellowed.

"I'm trying, Scorpius!" She put her hand on one of the handles and turned it as hard as she could but it wouldn't budge. She then tried the other two which were unsuccessful.

"They're locking all the doors." Dev said, breaking in between Avery and I. He looked through the first lock, counting meticulously, his wand changing. He stood up, put his wand through the keyhole and the door opened just as the door at the other end of the hallway did. I looked back and saw an Auror, a tall man, bulky, and angry that we had invaded the Chambers.

I pushed Avery through the door and then Dev. I shut the door and put my back against it, muttering spells that would lock it again. I watched as Dev knelt before the lock Avery knew to be right. The door was being pounded on by the Auror; he was shouting for me to surrender before I landed myself in Nurmengard. Avery pushed open the door as soon as Dev unlocked it and I sprinted towards it. It went like this for what seemed like an eternity, the Auror breaking through the last door and us breaking through the next door.

"This is the last one." Avery said as Dev got down on one knee. I watched as she watched him, in awe of his handiness. I held onto the handle as hard as I could, more than one wizard banging on the door behind me. They opened the door in seconds and I burst forward, but a white flare shot past me, coming from Avery's wand, and exploded the door behind me, leaving only a cloud of dust and more shouting. We ran towards the lifts and I checked my watch, the hands ticking at normal speed now.

We sprung into the lifts and shut them as soon as possible. Avery pointed her wand at the buttons and the lift seemed to move at record speed, bringing us back to the main level where we had started off. By now we were all back to our original form.

Avery sprinted towards the first open fireplace she saw. I looked back realizing there were at least ten Aurors behind us. All other witches and wizards stepped aside and then watched the pursuit. I pushed Dev in with Avery and they disappeared the next moment. I then pushed another man out of his fireplace and grabbed a hand full of Floo Powder on the side of the fireplace and dropped it before me, hardly mumbling my destination.

In another instant I was in McGonagall's office, Avery and Dev leaning over to catch their breath. McGonagall was there, staring at all of us, knowing we had gotten ourselves into some type of trouble.

"Any fireplace in the building that uses the Floo network needs to be shut down right now." I said to her. She nodded and pointed her wand behind me, bricks forming where I had just stood. My head pounded, feeling like my brain was splitting.


	20. Setting the Bird Free

Twenty

I sat in the common room with the plates whirring behind me, a butterbeer in hand. Avery had gone to dinner with Dev. I explained to them that I wasn't going to be able to eat anything with that kind of headache.

I stared at the clock on the wall and the hands stopped in their place. I smirked.

The door burst open with Melaina Achilles, her wand out and pointed at me.

"YOU BROKE IN?" She yelled, walking towards me, pointing her wand at my throat. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO, AND YOU BROKE IN?"

"You never told me not to, you just said that they thought I would!" I defended myself. She gritted her teeth and lowered her wand, and then took a moment to look at the spinning plates. She looked back at me. "How did you know?"

"I was sent an owl ten minutes ago asking me if there was a new Secret Keeper." One of the plates crashed to the ground as I started to lose my concentration on them.

"What did you say?"

"Of course not! Tell me how you navigated at once!" My mind went into a whirlwind of memories but I focused on putting the plates back first. I stood up and grabbed the broom from its place next to the bookshelf, sweeping up all the glass into one pile. I then looked back at Achilles.

"Nike and Avery helped map it out, but we weren't expecting that many hallways and doors. It took us an hour to get through."

"An hour?" She shouted angrily. "It would have taken the average wizard four hours!"

"You pretty much told me the other day that I wasn't average, remember?" I asked, summoning the broken glass intro the trash can. She said nothing for a moment, just watching me. She was as angry as I had ever seen and I wasn't sure why. She was the one who had told me about the chambers, about the titan and god nonsense.

"You figured out all of the puzzles on your own?"

"No, Devereaux Parkinson is a mastermind. He's also my best friend."

"How did you manage to get past the mirrors in the first hallway?"

"We were disguised; didn't know there was any kind of security there."

"Who were you disguised _as_?"

"You, Harry Potter, and some John Doe character." I looked at her; she was clenching her jaw.

"You will NEVER put my name in jeopardy again, Scorpius. How dare you think it was alright to portray a teacher, nonetheless _Harry Potter_."

"Unless he's another secret keeper."

"He's not. What did you use, a Polyjuice potion?"

"No, I'm afraid we can't exploit what we used. It's far too dangerous to be talked about." I said, feeling the stone still heavy in my pocket.

"Don't be surprised if your name is on the front page of all the newspapers tomorrow. You're in trouble, Scorpius. I told you to keep quiet, but now the goddamn cat is out of the bag."

"Good lord, calm down! It's not like we stole anything!" She muttered something under her breath and went for the door. "Oh and by the way, I was kind enough to put a constellation of you in the stars." She faltered for a moment and then kept going.

* * *

Melaina Achilles was right. My name and picture had been present on most of the wizarding newspapers along with Avery's as well as Dev's. Rita Skeeter found the opportunity to exploit Dev and Dacia's home life as well as Pansy's unfortunate series of men. Dev was crushed, embarrassed by it.

"_Dark Lord Prime Suspect in Ministry Break In."_ Avery read aloud in the common room the next morning. Dev stood before the fireplace, looking down into the flames. Dacia was sitting in one of the living chairs, reading one of the articles. Nike sat next to Avery on the couch and Al sat on her other side. Meredith and Helena had somehow managed to share the other living chair comfortably. Caine was standing near the fireplace also looking in and Francis was looking at the bookshelf as if he were in his own world. I was making myself some tea, a new method of getting rid of my headaches.

"They tarnished my reputation." Dev said quietly.

"They didn't, Dev." Avery said. "Forget about it. When this whole thing gets sorted out it'll be obvious that the Prophet was lying about you."

"WHEN THIS WHOLE THING IS OVER?" Dev yelled, turning around. I turned around as well and watched as he yelled at the group. "We don't know when or how this _whole thing_ will end! I helped you and my reputation is a piece of shit now! I was the best, the hardest working student out of _all_ of you and you have ruined me!"

For the first time I realized that I had asked too much of Dev over the years. He was right about it. There was no truth to when it would all be over, to how I would perform when the day of reckoning came. He really was the only person who had to work for what he wanted, for he was not naturally talented in any area, but had so much passion in him that prompted him to get better, to reach for the top. No one could say anything to him to help him feel better about what he had just lost.

"Forget it." He said. He looked at me. "If you need a chat, Scorpius, I'll be here. But I refuse to help you anymore." He walked out and Dacia hurried after him. I bit the inside of my cheek, my throat becoming considerably dry.

"Anyone else think he was overreacting?" Meredith piped up quietly. I glared at her. "I mean we've all been in the Prophet already. Skeeter's written horrible things about all of us, not to mention Nike's mother just died." She reminded me of the locket that Avery had put in her room last night.

"That's not the point he was trying to make." I said. "He wasn't supposed to be involved with his but he went out on a limb for us yesterday. It couldn't have been done without him." I crossed the room into Avery's bedroom and grabbed the locket off of her bureau. I stood in the doorway for a moment. "He wanted to lead a normal life like the rest of us and was well on his way to doing so, unlike the rest of us. But we have gotten in the way of that."

"I don't understand how we got in the way of that if he willingly helped us." Helena said.

"He wanted to work in the Ministry. What makes you think the Ministry is going to hire him now that he's a criminal?"

"Well we all want to work in the Ministry." Caine said.

"I don't." I said turning around, playing with the clasp on the necklace. Nike sat up a little straighter when she realized I had it. "I'd much rather move to some remote island and write books for the rest of my life." I looked at Nike. "Without Dev, I wouldn't have been able to get you this." I went to the back of the couch and put it around Nike's neck, clasping it for her. She gasped, opening the locket, and then began to cry softly.

"Holiday is coming up. I'd rather you all keep to yourselves and not send out any owls because the Ministry can track those. When we come back, I expect things to get worse. I'm not going home, I'm only leaving the school for a day or two. If you decide to come back early or stay here, you know where I'll be."

* * *

My parents returned from India over break to visit a small church in Ivybridge, Devon. My mother was starting to show; I could hardly believe that she was having another child. Other than my parents, only the Potter family and Nike attended the ceremony. I had only invited Nike due to the fact that I knew she would go crazy if she had too much alone time. Other than that, no one else knew that Avery and I were actually going through with it.

A chorus of Muggles stood behind the pastor singing a soft song. I stood alone, no best man, no bridesmaids, and the ring in my pocket. Avery, however, walked the aisle with Harry Potter. She had decided to get a more classic dress after she had shown Ginny the shorter one she had got earlier in the year. This one fit her like a glove, hugging her slender curves, billowing out at the knee. It had a deep back, accenting her hair which she had curled for the occasion. My heart raced at the sight of her.

Harry handed her off to me after kissing her forehead.

"You are no longer _my_ dear bird." He whispered to her. She grinned and then turned towards me, taking my hands in hers. She was trembling slightly.

_I, Scorpius Malfoy,_

_Take you, Avery Potter-Romanox,_

_To be none other than yourself._

_I promise to stand by your side;_

_To encourage you, and be open and honest with you;_

_To laugh with you, and cry with you;_

_To always love and honor you;_

_Both freed and bound by our love,_

_For as long as we both shall live._

My mind went through the valley of death at that moment, into oblivion, into forever. I felt like I was floating down a river, naked, and the world was just slow, passing me by, and I had not a single care in the world.

I slipped the ring on her finger and it dazzled before me. I knew that she would have to take it off as soon as we went back to the school, put it in her jewelry box for safe keeping, and wait out the storm to bring it back out again, to let the rest of the world that she was mine, that she had been mine for many months.

"You may now kiss your bride." The pastor said to me. I took her soft face in my hands and studied the face I had fallen in love with so quickly, the only face I had ever loved. Her milky skin, the few freckles that crossed over the bridge of her nose, her nose like a button, her pretty set of lips which naturally turned down, her high cheek bones, and then those green eyes of hers. Somehow, the stars had granted me some sort of death wish, but had also generously given me this piece of the heavens, the only pureness I had ever known in my life.

I kissed her gently and felt the same cool sensation that she always gave me. I wondered if I would ever get over the feeling she gave me, if there would be a day when I took that feeling for granted. I decided that I would never get tired of that feeling.

* * *

All of us sat in Harry Potter's dining room, their house elf preparing dessert while we ate a dinner consisting of lobster and other rich foods along with a few bottles of wine. Harry had invited his brother and sister-in-law and their kids, along with Teddy and Victoire. Hermione Weasley hadn't said much the whole night, but had eyed me coldly instead.

"Did you think it a good joke to put Harry's position at the Ministry in jeopardy?" She spoke up as I reached for the wine bottle. Everyone went silent and looked at her. Ron even gave her a condescending eye, maybe realizing that this was no time for interrogation. I glanced at Harry whose expression hadn't changed; it was clear he was upset underneath but had been working to avoid confrontation that day.

"That wasn't us, Hermione." Avery said quietly. I felt her hand on my leg.

"Oh it wasn't?" Hermione replied harshly.

"Do you have any proof?" Avery countered. I squeezed her hand, begging her to stop. "No pictures were taken of whoever it was that broke into the Ministry, no confessions have been made. We had been at the school all day." Hermione blinked so fast it was clear how angry she was.

"You think I'm a fool, Avery?" She began. "I was two seconds away from stepping into that fireplace but you and Parkinson pushed ahead of me." I felt my stomach twist. "Not to mention Harry's position, but you impersonated a highly respected professor and an _Auror_ that has been working with Harry for years. Good thing you sealed off that fireplace when you had the chance or else all three of you would have been sent to Azkaban right away. Good thing it was _me_ you cut in front of and not someone who was out to get you."

"Hermione, this isn't necessary." Harry said, looking over his glasses at her.

"Maybe not but do you realize how _crucial_ it could have been to your whole life had they been caught?"

"Mum," Rosie spoke up. Hermione shook her head, grabbed her dish and walked into the kitchen to help with dessert. I sighed under my breath and looked at my father who was disenchanted that it _had_ been Avery, Dev, and I to break into the Ministry.

Dinner dissolved quickly afterwards and everyone went to separate rooms to socialize. Avery had gone to the bathroom with Rosie to have somewhat of a cry. I stood in the study, my mother sitting on the sofa and my father staring at me, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm disappointed." Draco said. I put my hands in my pockets, twisting my wedding band around my finger with my thumb. "He's gone a long way, so far out of his way, to protect us. He was the one who suggested we move to India. He was the one who made sure that you were alright, that you had someone to talk to-"

"I understand what he's done for us. I don't take it for granted. But I think he understands more than anyone-"

"The stunts you have to pull," Another voice came from behind. I looked back at Harry Potter who had walked into the room. He shut the door behind him. "In order to succeed in what you're doing. I'm not angry at him, Draco. Or at Avery and Mr. Parkinson. The only reason Hermione is upset is because of the danger the three of you put yourselves in after it was made quite clear that you weren't supposed to go into the chambers. The only thing I want to know is how you managed all the puzzles we put in your path. The maze should have been difficult enough and by the time one reached the room of doors, your mind should have been exhausted."

"Avery navigated, Dev solved the puzzles."

"Even the locks? He solved everything?" Harry asked.

"Well I've never been the type to play Sudoku or anything like that."

"Still, he has an extraordinary mind if he can figure out the locks, not be overwhelmed with the maze, and still have some sense of problem-solving to figure out all of the doors. Nonetheless, I'm not mad. I was more surprised than anything." I looked back at my father who still seemed disappointed.

I put a screen of stars up on the ceiling of Avery's bedroom that night as we laid and laughed about all of the press we had been getting in the past month. Avery sat up and looked down at me, placing her hand on my chest, her ring just as glittery as the stars above us.

"When we get out of Hogwarts, I want to have a _real_ wedding. I want to invite everyone, all of our friends, family, cousins we've never met. I mean, being related to the Weasleys promises at least a hundred 2nd and 3rd cousins." I laughed.

"It won't mean much by then, Ave. Anyway, how could you compare to tonight's dinner?" He smile faded just slightly. She looked down at her ring.

"I didn't even see her."

"If I had gotten in that fireplace with you and Dev _everyone _would have known."

"Everyone does know," She said, laying back down with my arm in the crook of her neck, my hand wrapped around her shoulder. "As much as we hate Rita Skeeter, there's always some bit of truth in all of her articles." We looked up at the twinkling ceiling.

"I can't believe we're married." I said, ignoring her comment about Rita Skeeter.

"Believe it. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life." I smirked, but the both of us went quiet afterwards. Neither of us was sure how long that really meant.


End file.
